HEALTH

Calciphylaxis

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of cases of calciphylaxis.

Jane Ellison: Calciphylaxis is thankfully rare. Information on the number of cases is not collected centrally, so it is not yet possible to identify trends.
	A calciphylaxis registry has been set up in Manchester, but data from this is not yet available.

Young Adult Carers

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to support young adult carers.

Norman Lamb: Carers are central to Government’s care and support reforms. The Care Bill contains significant improvements for adults caring for adults, which apply to young adult carers. The Bill extends carers’ rights to assessments and for the first time, there will be a duty on local authorities to meet carers’ eligible support needs.

Independent Reconfiguration Panel

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has given the Independent Reconfiguration Panel on the length of time that body should take to make a decision once a referral has been made. [R]

Jeremy Hunt: The Independent Reconfiguration Panel advises the Secretary of State for Health on contested proposals for local clinical service changes. It is not a decision-making body.

Abortion

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2014, Official Report, columns 650-51W, on abortion, when the issue with extracting data from the HSA4 form first started to occur; and what steps the Government is taking to address the problem.

Jane Ellison: holding answer 13 February 2014
	The current issue came to light when compiling the information requested in the PQ table by my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce), on 23 January 2014. Officials are now reviewing the data collection processes.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government is taking to tackle neknomination.

Jane Ellison: Reports of the popularity of the drinking game neknomination are a matter of concern. The game's encouragement of participants to outdo each other with ever more reckless stunts brings with it significant risks of alcohol-related harm including acute intoxication, alcohol poisoning, accidents and injury.
	There is also the potential for cyber bullying of those who are seen to ‘chicken out’. It has already cost lives and we would advise anyone against taking part in the game to avoid putting themselves in a potentially dangerous situation.
	On 6 February 2014, Public Health England posted some information about the risks of taking part in neknomination on its FRANK drug information website (aimed at young people):
	www.talktofrank.com/news/hide-your-goldfish
	The article warned of the health risks of drinking too much alcohol on a single occasion, and included some advice about what to do if young people are feeling under pressure.

Ambulance Services

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to provide ambulance crews with additional specialised equipment to allow them to deal safely with moving larger patients.

Jane Ellison: Decision-making regarding the equipment in ambulances is an operational issue and is therefore a matter for the local ambulance trust.

Asbestos: Children

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has specialist expertise on the asbestos risks to children.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England has expertise in toxicology within its Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards and can draw on expertise on asbestos risks to children through the Department of Health expert committee on carcinogenicity (COC) of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment. This Committee has reviewed evidence and produced a statement on the relative vulnerability of children to asbestos compared to adults, which can be found at:
	www.iacoc.org.uk/statements/documents/Asbestosinschoolsstatement_000.pdf
	Further information on the Committee, including the papers and minutes of the discussions on relative vulnerability of children to asbestos compared to adults, is available from the COC website at:
	www.iacoc.org.uk

Baby Care Units

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what NHS England's budget for neonatal services will be in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Daniel Poulter: This information is not collected centrally.
	'Routine' neonatal care is commissioned by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and 'specialised' neonatal care is directly commissioned by NHS England.
	NHS England does not hold data on current spend across the country on specialised neonatal care. It is in the process of developing a single, standard mechanism for counting, coding and analysing specialised services activity and finance data. NHS England does not hold information relating to CCG expenditure on 'routine' neonatal care.

Breast Cancer

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Office for National Statistics about providing data on breast cancer incidence and survival by clinical commissioning group.

Jane Ellison: No discussions have been had with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) about providing data on breast cancer incidence and survival by clinical commissioning group. The ONS has not published breast cancer incidence and survival by clinical commissioning group. Public Health England plan to make available results on breast cancer incidence over the coming year but these will not be official statistics.

Cancer: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the amount spent on research to develop drugs to treat cancer in children in the UK in each of the last five years.

Daniel Poulter: Estimated expenditure on paediatric cancer drug research and development by the Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through its infrastructure for experimental medicine is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2008-09 0.3 
			 2009-10 0.3 
			 2010-11 0.3 
			 2011-12 0.5 
			 2012-13 0.4 
		
	
	Total NIHR spend on this topic is higher than this because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on paediatric cancer drug trials cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.
	The Department has made no estimate of paediatric cancer drug research and development by other United Kingdom funders including industry and medical research charities.

Care Homes: Fees and Charges

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on introducing a cap on care costs.

Norman Lamb: Everyone will be protected against catastrophic costs by the insurance the cap will provide from April 2016, in line with the Dilnot Commission's recommendations.
	We are currently putting the legislative framework for the cap in place, and will consult on draft regulations and guidance in autumn this year.

Chronic Illnesses

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to improve the management of patients with long-term conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will publish annual reviews of the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what progress his Department has made in reducing premature mortality from cardiovascular disease.

Jane Ellison: Through the Government's Mandate to NHS England, we are monitoring how well the national health service supports people with long-term conditions such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes. One of the improvements measured is how successfully the NHS manages long-term conditions by looking at unnecessary hospital admissions and excessive length of stay in hospital.
	In January 2014 NHS England published ‘Action for Diabetes’, which sets out how NHS England will drive prevention of type 2 diabetes and earlier diagnosis of all diabetes, and support better management of diabetes in primary care.
	The CVD Outcomes Strategy, published in 2013, sets out key actions for commissioners and providers to improve outcomes in CVD and includes a chapter on living with cardiovascular disease. NHS Improving Quality is supporting the delivery of the strategy by NHS England.
	NHS England advises that it has no immediate plans to publish an annual report on progress in implementing the CVD outcomes Strategy.
	Between 2001 and 2010 the CVD mortality rate in the under 75s fell from 108 deaths per 100,000 to 65 deaths per 100,000—a fall of 40%. Between 2011 and 2012, this rate fell from 58 deaths per 100,000 to 56 deaths per 100,0001
	1 Direct comparison with previous year's mortality, prior to 2011, is not advisable. There was a decrease in the number of deaths, with an underlying cause coded as 'Cardiovascular Disease'. However, a large proportion of this decrease is caused by a correction to the coding of vascular dementia, which was coded as underlying cause CVD (167.9) until 2010 and is now coded as underlying cause in “Mental Health” deaths (F01). Further details can be found at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-health3/results-of-the-icd-10-v2010-bridge-coding-study--england-and-wales--2009/2009/index.html

Clinical Priorities Advisory Group

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps NHS England has taken to ensure the transparency and public accountability of its Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG); and whether CPAG meeting papers will be published on the NHS England website.

Jane Ellison: The Directly Commissioned Services Committee (a Committee of the NHS England Board) determined at its meeting in January 2014 that the agenda and. minutes of the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) will be published on the NHS England website, at the point at which the recommendations of the CPAG have been approved.
	Papers taken to the CPAG are usually national service specifications or clinical access policies and these are routinely taken through a 12 week public consultation, unless there is an urgent clinical reason to move rapidly to implementation.

Depressive Illnesses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of patients with depression were given mindfulness-based therapies in each primary care trust area in England in the last year for which figures are available.

Norman Lamb: Currently we not collect data on the proportion of patients with depression who were given mindfulness-based therapies. However, from July 2014 the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Data Standard will be expanded to include mindfulness as a delivered therapy type.
	Data on the number of sessions of Mindfulness delivered by IAPT services will be held by the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been allocated by Health and Wellbeing Boards towards (a) primary and secondary care for type-2 diabetes and (b) prevention of type-2 diabetes.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not systematically collect information on the priorities of local areas, or their spending on diabetes prevention and treatment.
	Health and wellbeing boards are for local authorities, the national health service, local Healthwatch, communities and wider partners, to share system leadership of both health and care services and population health.
	While boards do not hold budgets or allocate funds, they are responsible for developing Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JHWS) (based on Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA)) that form the basis of NHS and local authorities' own commissioning plans across health, social care, public health and children's services.
	JSNA and JHWS are locally-led processes through which local areas identify the current and future health and well-being needs of the local population, and may well include provision for diabetes prevention and treatment.
	In January 2014, NHS England published 'Action for Diabetes', which sets out how plans should be prepared for the prevention of type 2 diabetes, earlier diagnosis of all diabetes and integrated care for those living with diabetes.
	NHS England is also putting a real emphasis on screening for high risk or the presence of type 2 diabetes through NHS health checks. The NHS Health Check is a risk assessment and management programme, for those aged 40 to 74, aimed at raising awareness and preventing a range of illnesses, including diabetes.
	Delivery of the NHS Health Check Programme has been mandated to local authorities from April 2013, and NHS England has an objective in its mandate from the Department to work with Public Health England to support local government in this work.

Drugs: Misuse

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths have been recorded from volatile substance abuse in (a) North Staffordshire and (b) the UK in each of the last five years; and what steps he is taking to prevent volatile substance abuse among children and young adults.

Jane Ellison: The following table shows information collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) about the number of deaths where the underlying cause was drug poisoning and a volatile substance was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate registered between 2008 to 2012, the latest year for which data are available. ONS holds information for deaths occurring only in England and Wales.
	
		
			 Number of deaths related to drug poisoning where a volatile substance was mentioned on the death certificate, England and Wales, West Midlands and North Staffordshire, deaths registered between 2008 to 2012 
			 Registration year England and Wales West Midlands North Staffordshire 
			 2008 18 1 0 
			 2009 19 3 0 
			 2010 20 2 1 
			 2011 17 1 0 
			 2012 15 2 1 
			 Notes: 1. Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Deaths were included where the underlying cause was due to drug poisoning (ICD 10 codes used were - F11-F16, F18-F19 Mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use (excluding alcohol and tobacco), X40-X44 Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, X60-X64 Intentional self-poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, X85 Assault by drugs, medicaments and biological substances and Y10-Y14 Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent) and where a volatile substance was mentioned on the death certificate. 2. Based on boundaries as of 2013. North Staffordshire includes Stoke-on Trent Unitary authority, Newcastle-under-Lyme local authority and Staffordshire Moorlands local authority. 3. Deaths of non-residents are excluded from figures for West Midlands and North Staffordshire. 4. Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. 5. The figures presented are not the total number of deaths involving volatile substances as (i) the underlying cause must be within the ONS definition of drug poisoning and (ii) the volatile substance may not be recorded by the coroner on the death certificate. 
		
	
	Education plays an important role in helping to ensure that young people are equipped with the information they need to make informed, healthy decisions and to keep themselves safe. Drug education, including information about volatile substances, is part of national curriculum science at key stage 2 and key stage 3. Provision in this area can be built on through personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education.
	Public Health England manage the Talk to FRANK service which provides young people in England with friendly, confidential advice and information about drugs, including volatile substances, and has tips on how to resist peer pressure to experiment. The service is provided in a range of channels (helpline, website, SMS, email, web chat) to suit a variety of different needs.
	The Association of Convenience Stores helps ensure that its members:
	(a) understand that it is illegal to supply gas lighter refills to anyone under the age of 18;
	(b) reduce underage access to gas lighter refills by removing accessible displays, helping to prevent shoplifting of gas lighter refills; and
	(c) restrict sales to one tin per customer.
	The Department has worked with the Association of Convenience Stores to encourage retailers who are not members of the Association to adopt the same standard of practice.
	Also, the Department has funded Re-Solv to develop its Community for Recovery website to help people who abuse volatile substances. This can be accessed at:
	www.communityforrecovery.org/

Electronic Cigarettes

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2014, Official Report, column 606, if he will assess the effects of e-cigarettes on passive smokers in cars; and what estimate he has made of the cost of prescribing e-cigarettes through the NHS.

Jane Ellison: The limited number of studies conducted to date indicate that the risk of passive exposure to electronic cigarette vapour is small relative to tobacco cigarettes. Further research was, however, recommended to evaluate the impact of e-cigarettes on indoor air quality and to estimate any possible effects of passive inhalation of e-cigarette vapour. There is no research assessing the risks to health in small confined spaces, such as cars.
	No estimate has been made of the cost of prescribing licensed e-cigarettes. Any e-cigarette licensed as a medicine would be treated as a nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence public health guidance on smoking harm reduction. The revised European Union Tobacco Products Directive makes provision for e-cigarettes not subject to medicines licensing to be regulated as consumer goods with specific requirements set out in the directive.
	The current cost of prescribing NRT on the national health service can be found in the Prescription Cost Analysis section of the NHS Business Services website at:
	www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/PrescriptionServices/3494.aspx

Gender Recognition

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made by his Department in implementing the commitments contained in the Government’s action plan for transgender equality; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Good progress has been made in delivering the commitments identified in “Advancing Transgender Equality: A Plan for Action”.
	A report on progress on the action plan will be published in due course.

Health Services: Young People

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what amount his Department has allocated to provision of habilitation services for blind and partially-sighted children and young people under the age of 25 in each of the next three years;
	(2)  what amount his Department spent on habilitation services for children and young people under the age of 25 in the last (a) 12 and (b) 24 months.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not collect this information centrally.

Health: Weather

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change about the effects of cold homes on (a) individual health and (b) NHS services.

Jane Ellison: The Secretary of State for Health met with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on 13 February to discuss the effects of cold homes on individual health and NHS services as part of a wider discussion on fuel poverty and health.
	No other discussions on this subject have taken place.

Home Care Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what requirements his Department places on local authorities to record or declare the number of visits cancelled or unattended by carers to clients under the care of a local authority;
	(2)  what requirements there are on local authorities and commissioned care agencies to ensure the health and wellbeing of a client on the occasions a carer is unable to attend an appointment;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the cost to local authorities of cancelled or unattended carer visits in each of the last five years;
	(4)  whether local authorities are required to pay care agencies for appointments where the carer fails to attend the appointment or the provider cancels the appointment;
	(5)  what systems his Department has to monitor how many care appointment visits are cancelled by care organisations paid by local authorities.

Norman Lamb: The Department has made no such assessments and does not monitor numbers or the cost of missed care visits or appointments. Local authorities are responsible, under the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990, for providing or arranging adult social care services for their communities and for ensuring that such services meet peoples' assessed needs.
	It is for local authorities to ensure, where services are delivered by external providers under contract, that the terms of any such contract are adhered to, that appointments are not missed and that service users receive the care they have been assessed as needing.
	Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to receive good quality care, whether in their own homes, in hospital or in care homes. More than 300,000 people in England currently rely on publicly-funded homecare services. The great majority of care is very good, but there are still examples of poor practice. We are determined to drive up quality and stamp out poor care.
	We recognise the importance of local authority purchasing decisions to those whose care is publicly funded. We are working with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association to develop standards for local authority commissioning that will support sector-led continuous improvement that should lead to more effective purchasing and better quality services being provided. The Care Bill provides that in commissioning services local authorities must consider the impact on peoples' well-being.

Medical Records: Databases

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discretion GPs will have not to make patients records automatically available to NHS schemes.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England has directed the Health and Social Care Information Centre under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to extract data from general practitioner (GP) practices for the care data programme. However, identifiable data will not be extracted from GP records of patients who have objected to the sharing of this information.
	On 18 February 2014, NHS England announced that they will collect data from GP surgeries in the autumn, instead of April, to allow more time to build public awareness of the benefits of using the information, what safeguards are in place, how people can opt out if they choose, and look into further measures that could be taken to build public confidence.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 589W, on medical records: databases, whether there would be grounds to take legal action against a GP who releases less data than that requested by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Daniel Poulter: Although a general practitioner (GP) who failed to provide information requested by the Health and Social Care Information Centre under its powers to obtain information would be breaking the law, there would be no grounds for taking legal action against that GP.
	However, the GP would be in breach of contractual terms that require compliance with all legal requirements and NHS England would need to consider whether to take remedial action for breach of contract.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Copeland, of 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 616W, on medical records: database, whether the full findings of the survey evaluating the Better information means better care leaflet will be made public; what the sample size and sampling methodology is of this survey; and who will carry out the survey on behalf of NHS England.

Daniel Poulter: The research methodology being used to evaluate the survey is face to face interviews, in a representative spread of locations across England and is being carried out by the independent market research agency BDRC-Continental. The sample size of the research is 1,500.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to ensure that people with a visual impairment or a learning disability are aware of and understand the care.data scheme.

Norman Lamb: The patient information leaflet ‘Better Information means Better Care’ is available in a range of accessible formats, for example, braille, audio, large print and easy read and are available online:
	http://www.nhs.uk/caredata
	or can be ordered via the patient line.
	NHS England is also working alongside a number of organisations, including the disability partnership programme, to understand how awareness amongst these groups can be further developed.
	On 18 February 2014, NHS England announced that they will collect data from GP surgeries in the autumn, instead of April, to allow more time to build public awareness of the benefits of using the information, what safeguards are in place, how people can opt out if they choose, and look into further measures that could be taken to build public confidence.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to ensure that psychiatric inpatients who are not living at home are aware of the effects of the care.data scheme on their medical data.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England is working with colleagues responsible for the commissioning and provision of mental health services to understand how they can improve awareness among psychiatric in-patients.
	On 18 February 2014, NHS England announced that they will collect data from GP surgeries in the autumn, instead of April, to allow more time to build public awareness of the benefits of using the information, what safeguards are in place, how people can opt out if they choose, and look into further measures that could be taken to ensure greater public confidence in the programme.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons he decided not to publish the findings of the review carried out by the Health and Social Care Information Centre at the request of NHS England on the possibility of pseudonymising data extracted under the care.data scheme at source.

Daniel Poulter: The review being carried out by the Health and Social Care Information Centre on the application of pseudonymisation is still under way, this involves discussions with a range of stakeholders.

Mental Health Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of levels of access to mindfulness-based therapy.

Norman Lamb: No such assessment has been made. Currently we do not collect data about levels of access to mindfulness-based therapy. However, from July 2014, Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) services will be collecting data on mindfulness as a therapy type as part of the IAPT Data Standard.

Nursing and Midwifery Council

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will hold discussions with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on that body reversing the increase in its compulsory annual fee.

Daniel Poulter: The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent body and it is therefore for the NMC Council to determine the level of the annual fee it charges for registration. The NMC advises that no decision has been made. Any proposed increase would be subject to public consultation where the NMC's case would be scrutinised.

Obesity

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been allocated by Health and Wellbeing Boards towards lifestyle weight management programmes.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not systematically collect information on the priorities of local areas, or their spending on lifestyle weight management programmes.
	Health and wellbeing boards are for local authorities, the national health service, local Healthwatch, communities and wider partners, to share system leadership of both health and care services and population health.
	While boards do not hold budgets or allocate funds as such, they are responsible for developing Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JHWS) (based, on Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSSA)) that form the basis of NHS and local authorities' own commissioning plans across health, social care, public health and children's services.
	JSNA and JHWS are locally-led processes through which local areas identify the current and future health and well-being needs of the local population, and may well include provision for weight management services.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the recommendations made by the 2011 National Radiotherapy Implementation Group report into stereotactic radiotherapy remain the standard by which progress in the treatment of stereotactic radiotherapy is measured.

Jane Ellison: The National Radiotherapy Implementation Group (NRIG) report on Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR), published in 2011, was one of a number of sources of evidence and guidance which NHS England considered when developing its-commissioning policy statement on SABR.
	NHS England will continue to consider the NRIG recommendations as one of the sources of standards, information and evidence when making decisions about future radiotherapy progress and planning.

Royal Sussex County Hospital

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will update the House on the proposed timescale for the release of funding for the 3Ts redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Daniel Poulter: An Outline Business Case for the redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital is currently being reviewed by the Government. Release of funding for the redevelopment will be dependent on approval of a subsequent Full Business Case (FBC), which will confirm the final construction costs and contract details. However, it is not yet possible to give an indication of when an FBC will be approved, and funding released.

Self-harm: Prisoners

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will commission research to develop treatment guidelines to be followed across the prison estate for males and females who self-harm; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will discuss with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence developing self-harm guidelines within the prison estate;
	(3)  if he will introduce a minimum threshold for moving an individual out of the prison estate and into a psychiatric setting; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  how many randomised trials of treatments for mental health issues and self-harm have been carried out by academic researchers within the prison estate since 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Clinicians and healthcare staff treating prisoners in English prisons who self-harm are expected to take National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guidelines into account when making treatment decisions. Copies of this guidance, “Self-harm: the short-term physical and psychological management and secondary prevention of self-harm in primary and secondary care” NICE clinical guideline number 16 (2004) and “Longer-term care and treatment of self-harm” NICE clinical guideline number 133 (2011) have been placed in the Library.
	Clinical guideline 133 on longer term care and treatment is due for review by NICE in 2014 and NICE plans to review clinical guideline 16 in 2015. NHS England has no current or confirmed plans to introduce further treatment guidelines specific to treating self-harm in prisons.
	Decisions about transferring prisoners with severe mental illnesses (SMI) to secure psychiatric units are clinical decisions based on clinical judgement about the prisoner's need for hospital treatment. Most SMI conditions are treatable within prison. Prisoners are considered for transfer to secure psychiatric units when a prison cannot provide appropriate treatment in the judgement of the consultant psychiatrist in charge of the prisoner's treatment.
	NHS England is currently analysing data on self-inflicted deaths across the prison estate to identify trends and to ensure that lessons are learned. This will include initiatives to reduce self-harm amongst prisoners. NHS England is also working with the National Offender Management Service and the Royal College of General Practitioners Secure Environment Group to improve commissioning for prisoners who self-harm and ensure that their physical and mental health needs are met.

Specialised Services Patient and Public Engagement Steering Group

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the minutes of all meetings of NHS England's Patient and Public Engagement Steering Group to date.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England's intention is to publish on its website the minutes for all of The Patient and Public Engagement Steering Group for Specialised Commissioning meetings since April 2013, when NHS England came into existence.
	The request to publish the minutes needs to be formally agreed by the Patient and Public Engagement Steering Group for Specialised Commissioning which next meets on 18 March 2014.

Staff

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of staff recruited to his Department since 5 May 2010 identified their ethnicity as (a) white British and (b) from a minority ethnic background.

Daniel Poulter: The proportions by ethnicity of the 378 civil servants recruited to the Department since 5 May 2010 are presented in the following table.
	
		
			 Ethnicity Headcount Proportion of total (percentage) 
			 White—British 176 47 
			 Black and Minority Ethnic 44 12 
			 White—Irish 9 2 
			 White—Any other White background 35 9 
			 None given 89 24 
			 Unknown 25 7

Streptococcus

Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his future plans are for introducing Enriched Culture Medium testing for Group B Strep.

Daniel Poulter: There are currently no plans to introduce, the test because within current clinical guidance from the key professional bodies, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists or the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, there are no clinical indications which should prompt the offer of an enriched culture medium test for group B streptococcus.
	Should the clinical guidance change the situation would be reviewed.

Tobacco: Packaging

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence has been submitted to the Chantler Review of standardised packaging of tobacco which is considered to be outside the remit of that Review; why each such submission is so considered; and whether he plans to publish such evidence.

Jane Ellison: The Chantler Review into the public health impact of standardised packaging of tobacco is due to report in March. The review is independent and it will be up to the review itself to set out the evidence submitted and how it has been considered. Sir Cyril Chantler has set out the way of working for the review, including how it proposed to seek further relevant evidence, in a method statement available at:
	www.kcl.ac.uk/health/packaging-review.aspx

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how many abortions funded by her Department were (a) procured in jurisdictions other than the UK and (b) provided in cases of rape in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how much financial support was provided as aid to procure abortion services overseas in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: The information requested is not available. On access to abortion services, UK policy is clear: Where abortion is permitted, we can consider support for activities to improve the quality, safety and accessibility of abortion services.

Developing Countries: Abortion

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she has put in place to ensure value for money in the provision of overseas aid to abortion providers; and if she will make a statement.

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department ensures value for money in overseas aid to abortion providers; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID seeks to ensure value for money in all our programmes in order to maximise the impact of each pound spent to improve poor people's lives.
	The UK funds partners to deliver comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services including in humanitarian situations. Investing in reproductive, maternal and newborn health is excellent value for money due to its low cost and far reaching benefits. We encourage others to do likewise. These SRH services may include improving access to safe abortion in line with our policy paper on safe and unsafe abortion.

Developing Countries: Abortion

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how many abortions funded by her Department were procured in jurisdictions other than the UK in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how much financial support the Government has provided in aid to procure abortion services overseas in each of the last 10 years.

Lynne Featherstone: The information requested is not available. On access to abortion services, UK policy is clear: Where abortion is permitted, we can consider support for activities to improve the quality, safety and accessibility of abortion services.

Developing Countries: Family Planning

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial support was provided to (a) Marie Stopes International, (b) the International Planned Parenthood Federation and (c) the United Nations Population Fund in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: The question has been answered covering the past three years instead of 10 years due to the time it would take to gather historical data. DFID provided £1.06 million to Marie Stopes International (MSI) in 2010-11; in 2011-12 MSI received a £4.35 million Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) grant plus an additional £4.7 million of other DFID funding; in 2012-13 MSI received £4.35 million of PPA funding plus an additional £16.8 million of other DFID funding. International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) received £9 million of PPA funds in 2010-11, £8.6 million of PPA funds in 2011-12 and £8.6 million of PPA funds in 2012-13. DFID provided United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with £20 million each year for the period 2010-11 to 2012-13.
	Details of further historical funding can be found in Table 18 and 19 of the Statistics on International Development (SID) which are available in the Library of the House.

Developing Countries: Family Planning

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial support the Government provided to (a) Marie Stopes International, (b) the International Planned Parenthood Federation and (c) the United Nations Population Fund in each of the last 10 years.

Lynne Featherstone: The question has been answered covering the past three years instead of 10 years due to the time it would take to gather historical data. DFID provided £1.06 million to Marie Stopes International (MSI) in 2010-11; in 2011-12 MSI received a £4.35 million Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) grant plus an additional £4.7 million of other DFID funding; in 2012-13 MSI received £4.35 million of PPA funding plus an additional £16.8 million of other DFID funding. International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) received £9 million of PPA funds in 2010-11, £8.6 million of PPA funds in 2011-12 and £8.6 million of PPA funds in 2012-13. DFID provided United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with £20 million each year for the period 2010-11 to 2012-13.
	Details of further historical funding can be found in Table 18 and 19 of the Statistics on International Development (SID) which are available in the Library of the House.

Disaster Relief

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to monitor its expenditure on disaster risk reduction.

Justine Greening: Expenditure is principally tracked through the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Creditor Reporting System (CRS).

SCOTLAND

Equality

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years.

David Mundell: All the staff in the Scotland Office are on loan or secondment, mainly from the Scottish Government or the Ministry of Justice; both bodies provide a range of initiatives promoting equality and diversity. There are no direct costs to the Scotland Office.

Staff

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of staff recruited to his Department since 5 May 2010 identified their ethnicity as (a) white British and (b) from a minority ethnic background.

David Mundell: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave on 26 November 2013, Official Report, columns 197-98W.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Ministers' Private Offices

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the size, in square metres, of the offices assigned to each of his Department's Ministers is; and how many officials, at what grade, work in the private offices of each of his Department's Ministers.

David Lidington: The size of the offices assigned to each Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister is as follows:
	
		
			  Office size (m2) 
			 Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 373.60 
			 Mr Lidington 145.40 
			 Baroness Warsi 97 
			 Mr Swire 107.70 
			 Mr Robertson and Mr Simmonds 203.30 
			 Lord Livingston 82.20 
			 Shared Meeting room 26 
		
	
	Please note that these room sizes include the Minister's office and all of the outer offices where the Minister's staff sit.
	For information on the number and grade of staff in private offices, I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer to the hon. Member for Barnsley East (Michael Dugher) dated 8 October 2013, Official Report, column 47W.

DEFENCE

Tornado Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps were taken in respect of recommendation 95 in the Tornado Airworthiness Review Team Report Table of Recommendations, Action Officers and Status Notes dated 5 February 1998;
	(2)  what safety issues were identified in recommendation 95 of the Tornado Airworthiness Review Team Report Table of Recommendations, Action Officers and Status Notes dated 5 February 1998 regarding the Tornado's ejection seat.

Philip Dunne: I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
	Substantive answer from Philip Dunne to Angus Robertson:
	I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Questions on 10th February 2014 (Official Report, column 473W) about recommendation 95 of the Tornado Airworthiness Review Team report.
	The Tornado Airworthiness Review Team report was produced circa 1996 and, although information on the recommendations made by the Review Team remains extant, despite a thorough search, we have been unable to locate a copy of the full report.
	In the absence of the report, it is not possible today to re-identify the specific issue in the ejection seat that recommendation 95 was intended to address. What is clear is that by March 1998 the issue had been satisfactorily addressed and this had been briefed to the relevant RAF personnel. Recommendation 95 was considered closed, as were all of the recommendations arising from the Tornado Airworthiness Review. This, together with the passage of time since 1998, may explain why no copy of the report has been retained.
	I should add that in the 18 years since the Tornado Airworthiness Review Team reported, the Mk10 ejection seat has been the subject of a mid-life upgrade programme, in the late 1990s, and an extensive modification programme from 2007 to 2010 that introduced many improvements. The Mk10 ejection seat in its current configuration is much improved as compared to 1996. As you are aware, further improvements are now being made as a result of the tragic accident to Flt Lt Sean Cunningham in November 2011.

TREASURY

Banks: Foreign Investment

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total investment of British banks in the national debt for (a) Greece, (b) Spain, (c) Italy and (d) Ireland.

Sajid Javid: Data on external claims of UK-owned monetary financial institutions, and of their branches and subsidiaries abroad, are available on the Bank of England website at:
	www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/Documents/bankstats/2013/sep13/tabc4.2.xls
	These data include UK banking groups' direct exposures to the entire public sectors of Greece, Spain, Italy and Ireland.

Business: West Midlands

Karen Lumley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many small businesses in (a) the West Midlands, (b) Worcestershire and (c) Redditch have benfited from the Funding for Lending Scheme.

Sajid Javid: The Bank of England publishes net lending data for the UK for each participating bank under the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) on a quarterly basis. Decisions about whether to lend to specific businesses in specific locations remain commercial decisions for banks and building societies.
	In November 2013, the Government announced that the scheme extension will be re-focused on business lending, SMEs in particular. Recent evidence shows that credit conditions have improved significantly for businesses, including small businesses. Gross lending to SMEs was £4.49 billion (12%) higher in 2013 than in 2012.

Equality

Dominic Raab: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years.

Nicky Morgan: In common with other Government Departments HM Treasury seeks to promote equality of opportunity for all its employees.
	Table 1 gives the total expenditure in each of the last five financial years on promoting equality and diversity.
	
		
			 Table 1 
			  £ 
			 2008-09 75,665 
			 2009-10 107,199 
			 2010-11 139,465 
			 2011-12 96,663 
			 2012-13 156,018 
			 1 2008-12 the salary cost for a support worker for an employee with a disability was met from the diversity budget. In 2012-13 this cost (HM Treasury Range C, salary range £21,837-£27,970) was met from the employee's team budget. 
		
	
	The expenditure detailed in Table 1 includes funding for reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities as required by the disability section of the Equality Act.
	Staff costs on promoting equality and diversity are (i) one full-time equivalent employee at HM Treasury Range D/D2 in last five years (in current pay range £31,000 to £45,000) and (ii) from April 2013, 20% of an HR Business Partner leading on diversity at HM Treasury Range E (in current pay range £45,283-£64,498).

Equity Finance

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration he has given to the use of tax breaks to encourage companies to use equity finance.

Sajid Javid: The Government continues to explore ways to enhance equity financing in the UK and, as announced at the autumn statement, will shortly publish a discussion paper on this topic.

Gender Recognition

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what progress has been made by his Department in implementing the commitment contained in the Government's action plan for transgender equality to improve guidance for employers and customers for the implications of gender reassignment for tax purposes;
	(2)  if he will issue guidance for employers and customers for people who do not wish to be identified for tax purposes as a particular gender.

David Gauke: The gender of customers is needed by HMRC to fulfil their statutory duty of confidentiality to confirm customers' identities.
	HMRC will publish updated PAYE guidance for employers with transgender employees in the Employer Further Guide to PAYE (booklet CWG2) and in web guidance when both are updated on 6 April 2014. Guidance for customers will be made available at the same time.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department has spent on advertising and marketing the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme to date.

Sajid Javid: holding answer 13 February 2014
	As part of the Government's transparency agenda, all Departments publish details of transactions above £25,000. Data are published one month in arrears. Any data relating to Help to Buy advertising and marketing expenditure above this threshold will appear in future releases at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/25000-spend

State Retirement Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the cost to the public purse of continuing the triple lock policy of uprating the basic state pension for each financial year between 2015 and 2020.

David Gauke: holding answer 23 January 2014
	As a result of the triple lock commitment; the basic state pension now represents a higher share of average earnings than at any time over the last 20 years. Thanks to the triple lock the rate of the basic state pension will be around £440 a year higher from next April, than it would have been if uprated in line with average earnings since 2011-12. By the end of this year, the Government will have spent £5.9 billion in total on the triple lock.
	The cost of the triple lock is included in OBR forecasts. The triple lock provides reassurance and certainty for pensioners and delivers dignity in old age.

Taxation

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of fraudulent websites mimicking HM Revenue and Customs tax return services; and whether HM Revenue and Customs has any procedure for making the public aware of potential scams.

David Gauke: HMRC takes customer confidence in their online services very seriously. Ministers have asked a cross-government group, at which HMRC is a participant, to work with industry experts to mitigate the risks posed by copycat websites to our customers.
	HMRC's extensive online services are best accessed by typing this address
	www.hmrc.gov.uk
	directly into an internet browser.

Taxation: Business

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were employed by HM Revenue and Customs to work in the Large Business Service in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14 to date.

David Gauke: HMRC's Large Business Service deals with the tax affairs of the 800 or so largest businesses in the UK. HMRC's approach has enabled it to recover over £16 billion in additional compliance revenues from large businesses dealt with by Large Business Service between April 2010 and March 2013, as follows:
	
		
			  Additional compliance revenues recovered (£ billion) 
			 2010-11 5.74 
			 2011-12 5.04 
			 2012-13 5.28 
		
	
	The numbers of people employed by HMRC to work in the Large Business Service at each year end and currently are:
	
		
			 31 March Number of people employed in Large Business Service Equivalent to full-time posts 
			 2011 1,438 1,353 
			 2012 1,306 1,212 
			 2013 1,194 1,095 
		
	
	The Large Business Service also calls on the services of specialist staff employed in other units in HMRC when dealing with the tax affairs of the large businesses for which it is responsible.

Taxation: Charities

Nick de Bois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many charities using the online portal have been fined for late return of an annual return in each year since 2010;
	(2)  what the average cost has been to charities appealing against late filing penalties of the online annual return in each year since 2010.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recognises that asking a charity to claim tax relief every year would be administratively burdensome and therefore they do not require every charity to file a tax return every year.
	However, they do require every charity to file a tax return once every few years so that they can check that the charity is claiming any tax exemptions and reliefs in accordance with the law. In addition, charities have an obligation to complete a tax return where they have reason to believe that they should be paying tax on some of their income or gains.
	If HMRC send a notice to a charity to file a tax return the charity must complete it and submit it within the time limits given on the forms or they may face a penalty.
	HMRC have issued charities with penalties for late submission of their company tax returns in each of the financial years since 2008 as follows:
	
		
			  Penalties 
			 2008-09 1,418 
			 2009-10 1,437 
			 2010-11 1,312 
			 2011-12 1,438 
			 2012-13 1,723 
		
	
	This includes penalties issued on paper returns. From 1 April 2011, nearly all company tax returns for periods ending after 31 March 2010 have to be delivered to HMRC online.
	HMRC does not collect data on the cost to charities of appealing these penalties.

VAT: Local Government

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many local authorities were selected by HM Revenue and Customs for checks specific to their VAT returns; and how long such checks took in each case.

David Gauke: For the current year to date HMRC have undertaken 701 checks in relation to the VAT returns of local authorities. For 2012-13 the number was 657.
	The length of time involved in each case differs according to the nature of the check. In the case of simple checks, where perhaps a phone call to the customer is all that is needed, the case is resolved on the same day as it is started. In the case of other checks, especially in relation the larger local authorities, these may last weeks, months, or longer.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of the Department for Transport of 11 February 2014, Official Report, columns 525-6W, on Government Departments: unmanned air vehicles, which remotely piloted aircraft systems his Department employs to collect data; which policies are supported by the collection of such data; and where those systems are operated. [R]

Dan Rogerson: Core DEFRA has not used any unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Food and Environment Research Agency, Environment Agency, Natural England and the Royal Botanic Gardens have used unmanned aerial vehicles to support work on flood defence and coastal erosion and the monitoring of crops, plants and nature reserves. All flights were carried out within the UK except for an aerial plant survey in Peru carried out by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
	UAV systems used include:
	Quest UAV 200
	Flysense Ebee
	DJI S800 Spreading Wings
	Swinglet.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Staff

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of staff recruited to her Department since 5 May 2010 identified their ethnicity as (a) white British and (b) from a minority ethnic background.

Helen Grant: The proportion of staff, recruited to DCMS since 5 May 2010, that identified their ethnicity is shown in the table:
	
		
			  No. % 
			 (a) White British 43 13.11 
			 (b) Minority Ethnic background 14 4.27 
			 Prefer not to say 2 0.61 
			 Not declared 269 82.01 
		
	
	Completion of these data is non-mandatory for staff. As such these figures may not be fully representative of work force diversity.

Telecommunications

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the potential benefit to consumers in the communications sector of the Government's proposals to streamline regulatory and competition appeals.

Edward Vaizey: I believe that streamlining the framework for regulatory and competition appeals offers benefits for consumers and industry. The Government published an impact assessment alongside its consultation on proposals to streamline regulatory appeals and this is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/207702/bis-13-924-regulatory-and-competition-appeals-impact_assessment.pdf
	This assessment is being updated in light of consultation responses received and we will publish that alongside the Government’s response to the consultation in the spring.

Telecommunications

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her timetable is for reform of the regulatory and competition appeals processes in the communications sector.

Edward Vaizey: My officials have been working closely with officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills following the consultation on appeals that was held last year. We are considering the responses received and will publish the Government's response in due course.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Gender Recognition

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made by his Department in implementing the commitments contained in the Government’s action plan for transgender equality; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Williams: Good progress has been made in delivering the commitments identified in advancing transgender equality: A plan for action.
	A report on progress on the action plan will be published in due course.

Housing: Construction

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the Consumer Code for Homebuilders;
	(2)  what his policy is on the introduction of a statutory redress mechanism for new homebuyers.

Kris Hopkins: The Consumer Code for Homebuilders (the Code), is an industry led scheme which gives protection and rights to purchasers of new homes, ensuring that new homebuyers are treated fairly and are fully informed about their purchase.
	The Code applies to all homebuyers who reserve to buy a new or newly converted home, on or after 1 April 2010, built by a home builder registered with one of the supporting warranty bodies. It also offers an independent dispute resolution scheme that determines a builder's responsibilities without the consumer having to take legal action.
	Its Management Board publishes a report on an annual basis setting out progress and future plans for ensuring that consumers continue to be well-protected. The reports are available on the Consumer Code for Homebuilders' web-site.
	It is right that industry is taking a lead on this and I am pleased that the industry-led work to further increase the impact of the Code is being progressed.

Ministers' Private Offices

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the size, in square metres, of the offices assigned to each of his Department's Ministers is; and how many officials, at what grade, work in the private offices of each of his Department's Ministers.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 8 October 2013, Official Report, column 138W, on the staffing of private offices.
	Ministerial private offices are a key link in handling ministerial correspondence, organising the ministerial diaries, supporting Ministers on external engagements and visits, conveying Ministers' views to officials and overseeing the provision of advice to Ministers, handling communications and policy discussions with other Government Departments, and providing Ministers with general information and views from their Departments. Notwithstanding, we have cut the administrative costs of private offices by 25% from 2009-10 to 2012-13, reflecting the broader administrative savings we are making across the Department.
	In relation to office size of each private office, the Secretary of State's is 61 square metres, the Senior Minister of State's private office is 35 square metres (who also has a Foreign and Commonwealth Private Office), and the five Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of States' offices are 40, 42, 42, 42 and 56 square metres respectively. Such dimensions are substantively unchanged from the last Administration. To assist the hon. Member, I would note that (as stated in the answer of 28 June 2006, Official Report, column 457W), the private office of John Prescott when he was a Cabinet Minister was 802 square feet.
	The Department will be making further savings from office space when we move to Marsham Street later this year, sharing a building with the Home Office. The move will save my Department a net £9 million per year, and save taxpayers a total of £220 million over the lifetime of the building's lease commitments. This illustrates the scope for sensible savings by councils and the wider public sector from better property management and sharing of services.

EDUCATION

Independent Schools Inspectorate

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether the parental complaints he has received connected with the termination of inspectors working for the Independent Schools Inspectorate relate to concerns over the treatment of children within the schools inspected;
	(2)  how many inspectors working for the Independent Schools Inspectorate have ceased to be deployed for reasons connected with statutory notices being served on schools to date;
	(3)  pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2014, Official Report, column 52W, on private education: offences against children, on what date the inspector subject to direct allegations was suspended.

Edward Timpson: We have asked the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) and have been given the following information:
	1. in the case concerned, the complaint related to the treatment of children in a school which the inspector had been associated with;
	2. information is only available from 2013 onwards: in that time 16 team inspectors from a total of 10 schools have ceased to be deployed after the school received a statutory notice;
	3. the inspector concerned was suspended from deployment on 5 March 2012 by ISI immediately when it was informed of the allegations.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum: Pregnant Women

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when her Department plans to publish revised guidance on procedures for dispersing and accommodating pregnant women who seek asylum in the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has been consulting about changes to the guidance. The Refugee Council and Maternity Action have provided a detailed response which we are considering. Once that is completed we will move towards finalising and publishing the revised guidance.

British Nationality: Armed Forces

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for British citizenship have been made by foreign and Commonwealth personnel (a) currently or (b) recently serving in the armed forces who have been refused citizenship on the grounds that the good character request is not met; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Four serving members of HM armed forces have been refused British citizenship because they did not meet the criteria set for good character in the 12 months leading to their application.

Gender Recognition

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what progress her Department has made on implementing the commitments contained in the Government’s action plan for transgender equality to review how gender identification is represented in passport application forms and passports; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  when her Department ceased to record on passports the holder's (a) profession, (b) place of birth, (c) date of birth, (d) country of residence, (e) height, (f) eye colour, (g) hair colour, (h) special peculiarities and (i) distinguishing features; for what reasons the Government decided to cease recording each of the characteristics on passports; what rules it currently applies to people of indeterminate sex and people who do not identify as either gender in relation to how they describe their gender on passports; what consideration she has given on the need to record a person's sex on passports; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: A copy of Her Majesty's Passport Office review into gender markings in the British passport has been placed in the Library of both Houses.
	http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2014-0152/Gendermarkings__290114.pdf
	The review was carried out in response to the recommendation in the Government's action plan for transgender equality published on 8 December 2011.
	The information set out in the biographic page of the British passport conforms to standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The British passport biographical page lists name, nationality, date of birth, gender, place of birth, photograph, and signature of the holder in addition to place and date of issue of the passport.
	Previous information contained in the British passport has been removed in the light of technological advances in the quality of photographs or because the information was no longer considered relevant to the person's ability to apply for and use the passport. Changes have been made from time to time and the need for information to be gathered is subject to regular review. Her Majesty's Passport Office collects only information considered relevant to ensure the safe and secure issue of the British passport and to protect the identity of the individual and ensure their safe passage through international borders.
	As the review above indicates, gender is considered an important identifier.
	It is used to assist the application process and, at frontiers, provides border agencies with direction on the handling of the passport holder. We recognise that a very small number of countries have adopted the use of an 'X' in the passport but UK law does not recognise a third gender classification.

Immigration Controls

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to increase pre-entry medical screening for those wishing to reside in the UK for more than six months.

James Brokenshire: We are switching to TB pre-entry screening abroad in preference to screening on entry to the UK. We are currently operating TB pre-entry screening in 94 locations. We will complete our planned overseas roll-out this year, expanding to 101 locations by the end of March 2014.

Immigration Controls

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the UK Border Force in safeguarding public health.

James Brokenshire: The Border Force operational command of the Home Office plays an effective role in helping to safeguard public health. Medical Inspectors appointed by Public Health England are available at various ports.
	Border Force works closely with the Medical Inspectors and where appropriate refers arriving passengers to them.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of the Department for Transport of 11 February 2014, Official Report, columns 525-6W, on Government Departments: unmanned air vehicles, which remotely piloted aircraft systems her Department employs to collect data; which policies are supported by the collection of such data; and where those systems are operated. [R]

Damian Green: The Home Office does not employ remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS).

WALES

Equality

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years.

Stephen Crabb: No post exists solely for promoting equality and diversity within the Wales Office, the function is incorporated into the generic HR role. As such, the Wales Office is unable to disaggregate the total departmental expenditure for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy: Meters

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the contribution of the Minister of State of 4 February 2014, Official Report, column 237, whether his Department has made an assessment of the number of suppliers who charge customers to have prepayment meters removed and level of such charges.

Michael Fallon: Energy suppliers have different policies on whether to pass on costs incurred from Meter Operators to change a customer from a prepayment to a credit meter. Suppliers may waive charges for vulnerable consumers. DECC understands that companies that make no charge include British Gas, EON and EDF. The following table shows the energy supply companies that charge.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Supplier Charge for gas PPM Charge for electricity PPM 
			 Npower 60 60 
			 Scottish Power 62.90 45.91 
			 SSE 52.00 52.00 
			 Co-op 69.02 66.15 
			 Ebico 52.00 52.00

Nuclear Installations

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many staff work in his Department's Nuclear Resilience and Assurance directorate; how many such staff work on nuclear security matters; and what proportion such staff have expertise in nuclear security.

Michael Fallon: The Nuclear Resilience and Assurance Directorate (NRAD) in my Department is responsible for the policy frameworks for civil nuclear security, emergency planning and safety assurance, as well as working to improve the security of nuclear and radiological material overseas and taking forward UK nuclear non-proliferation priorities. NRAD also houses the UK Chemical Weapons Convention National Authority. The Directorate currently has an allocation of 52 staff with a range of cross cutting expertise in these areas, who work closely with expert partners in other organisations including the Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Gregory Barker: The following table includes the name, location, floor space and tenure status of buildings occupied by the Department. The Electronic Property Information Mapping Service (e-PIMS™) is the central database of Government Central Civil Estate properties and land. A subset of data from e-PIMS™ is in the public domain:
	www.data.gov.uk
	and includes details of property location, tenure, and other key attributes. It is a sample of all departmental holdings.
	The global running cost figure for the central civil estate of c£3 billion per annum.
	
		
			 Department/Non Departmental Public Body Property Name/Address Tenure status Floor space—occupied (NIA) M2 
			 DECC 3 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2AW Leasehold 8,786 
			 DECC 55 Whitehall, London, SWA 2EY Crown Estate 1,710 
			 DECC 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H OET MOTO1 414 
			 DECC Atholl House 84-88 Guild St, Aberdeen, AB11 6NB Leasehold 1,408 
			 DECC Kings Buildings, 16 Smith Sq, London, SW1P3HQ Licence 1,178 
			 Committee on Climate Change (CCC) 7 Holbein Place, London, SW1W 8NR Renting 1 floor from Heritage Lottery Fund 340 
			 Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (ND A)2 HQ Herdus House Westlakes Science and Technology Park, Moor Row, Cumbria CA24 3HU Leasehold 2,736 
			 NDA Harwell Building 587 Curie Avenue Harwell Oxford Didcot OX11 ORH Ground Lease, Building Freehold 1,871 
			 NDA Forss Freswick House Newpark Business and Technology Park, Thurso, Caithness KW14 7UZ Leasehold-will surrender in 2014 as unoccupied now. 194 
			 NDA Dounreay Building D2003 Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL), Thurso, Caithness. KW14 7TZ Leasehold on the DRSL Nuclear Site 115 
			 NDA Warrington Hinton House Birchwood Park Avenue, Warrington, Cheshire. WA3 6GR Leasehold NDA-679 
			 NDA London Eland House9th floor, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DU Leasehold 340 
			 Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) Buildings E6 AND F6, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, 0X14 3DB Lease 1,588 
			 CNC Building F7 Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, 0X14 3DB Lease 529 
		
	
	
		
			 CNC Greengarths (including Core shed) Allerdale Court, Cumbria Licence 447 
			 CNC Lord Roberts Centre, (including meeting rooms, training area and armoury) Bisley, GU24 ONP Leasehold 695 
			 Coal Authority3 Coal Authority Mansfield, 200 Lichfield Lane, Berry Hill, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire NG18 4RG Freehold 44,379 
			 Coal Authority Team Valley, Unit 3 Team Valley Trading Estate, 3 Earls Court, Fifth Avenue, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE11 OHF Leasehold (Expires December 2014) 590 
			 1 MOTO stands for Memorandum of Terms of Occupation and is a type of licence agreement for the sharing of accommodation between Government organisations known as "Crown Bodies". 2 For Nuclear Decommissioning Authority the properties listed in the schedule are those where there is direct occupation by the NDA as a NDPB with responsibility to DECC. In addition, NDA subsidiary companies and nuclear site contractors own and occupy land and buildings that are used in furtherance of the nuclear mission. Details are available in the Corporate Asset Management Plan, available on the website: http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/Corporate-Asset-Management-Plan-May-2013.pdf 3 Coal Authority have no other buildings that are occupied except for those related to our operational minewater schemes, details of which are available on the CA website: http://coal.decc.gov.uk 4 2,851 by CA, remainder to tenants.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Gregory Barker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 11February 2014, Official Report, column 607W.

Staff

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of staff recruited to his Department since 5 May 2010 identified their ethnicity as (a) white British and (b) from a minority ethnic background.

Gregory Barker: Prior to November 2010 the Shared Service provision for Human Resource in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was provided by two suppliers with data maintained in differing formats. Therefore data in a consistent format is only available from November 2010.
	From November 2010 to January 2014, 56% of civil servants who were been recruited to DECC have declared diversity data. Of those who have declared diversity data, 78% have declared that they are white British and 13% have declared that they are from a minority ethnic background.
	The remaining 9% are other white backgrounds.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Equality

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years.

Theresa Villiers: My Department is fully committed to promoting equality and diversity and to fulfilling our statutory responsibilities in this regard. This work is co-ordinated by our Corporate Governance team in addition to a range of other duties. As such, it is not possible to provide a breakdown of costs and staff numbers as to do so would incur disproportionate cost. My Department has published an Equality Scheme and provides annual progress reports on delivery of the Scheme to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland in line with our Section 15 responsibilities.
	All staff in my Department have received Section 75 equality training—in 2013-14 this was provided at a cost of £4,775. In addition, all staff have access to a wide range of diversity networks in both Belfast and London.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Servants

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for the Vale of Glamorgan on 11 December 2013, Official Report, column 224, in which Government Department each official was employed.

Francis Maude: Details of facility time provision, broken down by Department, are published on gov.uk.

Civil Servants: Career Development

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what the average career progression of fast stream civil servants who identify as (a) white British and (b) any other minority ethnic background has been since May 2010;
	(2)  what the average pay progression of fast stream civil servants who identify as (a) white British and (b) any other minority ethnic background has been since May 2010;
	(3)  what the average career progression of (a) male and (b) female fast stream civil servants has been since May 2010;
	(4)  what the average pay progression of (a) male and (b) female fast stream civil servants has been since May 2010.

Francis Maude: Civil servants can, but are not compelled, to declare their ethnicity. As a result, we don't hold sufficient information to give an accurate response. The civil service is, however, committed to harnessing the ambition and potential of its staff, whoever they are. In addition to initiatives such as the Summer Diversity Internship Programme, which specifically targets those of minority ethnic or lower socio-economic background, it is a key component of the civil service talent strategy to ensure that all talent development schemes are accessible to all those who show the ability and aspiration to make a difference to the civil service.

JUSTICE

Magistrates

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will provide a breakdown by ethnic background, age cohort and gender of lay magistrates in each panel for each year from 2010.

Shailesh Vara: A more diverse judiciary is important in retaining the public's confidence and trust in justice, and better reflecting the society it serves. This Government has made a number of changes through the Crime and Courts Act 2013 that we believe will promote judicial diversity. We have introduced part-time working in the senior, courts, including the Supreme Court, we have enabled the equal merit provision for judicial appointments to allow protected characteristics to be taken into account where two applicants are of equal merit, and a statutory duty for the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice to encourage judicial diversity.
	Magistrates in England and Wales are recruited and selected by a network of local advisory committees, which record data on the diversity profile of magistrates in their respective areas. In order to be able to provide the requested information, we have interpreted the reference to panels in the question to mean local advisory committee areas. The following tables contain the requested data:
	
		
			 Magistrates diversity profile by Advisory Committee Areas as at 31 March 2010 
			   Gender Age 
			 Advisory Committee Area Total Male Female Under 40 40-49 50-59 60 and over 
			 Avon 318 153 165 14 51 107 146 
			 Barnsley 112 61 51 5 20 39 48 
			 Batley and Dewsbury 95 52 43 5 21 26 43 
			 Bedfordshire 306 148 158 19 52 84 151 
			 Berkshire 374 163 211 15 78 111 170 
			 Birmingham 424 212 212 27 60 137 200 
			 Bolton 196 96 100 8 21 57 110 
			 Bradford 278 129 149 19 47 99 113 
			 Bristol 308 145 163 12 42 97 157 
			 Buckinghamshire 370 177 193 11 65 101 193 
			 Bury 184 91 93 8 23 55 98 
			 Calderdale 145 72 73 8 15 50 72 
			 Cambridgeshire 328 153 175 7 41 103 177 
			 Carmarthenshire 129 72 57 1 11 42 75 
			 Ceredigion 51 24 27 1 1 19 30 
			 Cheshire 480 249 231 11 81 170 218 
			 Cities of Westminster and London 433 180 253 29 44 125 235 
			 Clwyd 309 151 158 6 46 89 168 
			 Cornwall 196 96 100 2 29 59 106 
			 Coventry 211 105 106 9 28 68 106 
			 Cumbria 270 135 135 5 30 73 162 
			 Derbyshire 411 215 196 16 49 119 227 
			 Devon 343 138 205 9 39 93 202 
			 Doncaster 180 88 92 6 15 52 107 
			 Dorset 325 174 151 6 28 97 194 
			 Dudley 175 90 85 3 25 61 86 
			 Durham 303 151 152 7 50 101 145 
			 East Sussex 402 181 221 11 53 119 219 
			 Essex 592 315 277 17 70 169 336 
			 Gateshead 128 60 68 5 14 36 73 
			 Gloucestershire 263 133 130 12 41 87 123 
			 Gwent 320 170 150 9 29 96 186 
			 Gwynedd 105 57 48 3 10 36 56 
			 Hampshire 714 338 376 17 91 218 388 
			 Hereford and Worcester 502 246 256 14 56 168 264 
			 Hertfordshire 474 224 250 19 106 151 198 
			 Huddersfield 95 46 49 5 11 36 43 
			 Humberside 279 145 134 6 48 77 148 
			 Isle of Wight 69 33 36 3 8 28 30 
			 Keighley 118 62 56 5 19 37 57 
		
	
	
		
			 Kent 908 457 451 35 110 291 472 
			 Kingston Upon Hull 164 95 69 10 15 47 92 
			 Knowsley 81 46 35 1 6 26 48 
			 Lancashire 1,143 572 571 57 141 364 581 
			 Leeds District 423 207 216 24 78 132 189 
			 Leicester 306 157 149 12 53 88 153 
			 Leicestershire 225 98 127 9 28 64 124 
			 Lincolnshire 341 168 173 3 49 98 191 
			 Liverpool 295 153 142 6 50 93 146 
			 Manchester 404 196 208 22 79 130 173 
			 Mid Glamorgan 258 138 120 13 35 71 139 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne 228 113 115 9 30 76 113 
			 Norfolk 402 209 193 9 35 113 245 
			 North Cleveland 86 45 41 3 15 26 42 
			 North East London 651 331 320 67 155 174 255 
			 North Sefton 79 41 38 0 13 20 46 
			 North Tyneside 155 76 79 9 24 44 78 
			 North West London 805 359 446 33 140 250 382 
			 North Yorkshire 395 204 191 17 54 137 187 
			 Northamptonshire 415 192 223 14 66 129 206 
			 Northumberland 183 86 97 3 26 47 107 
			 Nottingham 442 207 235 21 75 131 215 
			 Nottinghamshire 237 129 108 3 19 74 141 
			 Oldham 174 87 87 13 14 60 87 
			 Oxfordshire 316 143 173 10 33 105 168 
			 Pembroke 62 29 33 1 4 18 39 
			 Plymouth 151 81 70 3 18 47 83 
			 Pontefract 85 51 34 4 15 27 39 
			 Powys 86 41 45 1 7 30 48 
			 Rochdale Middleton and Heywood 166 89 77 5 14 45 102 
			 Rotherham 108 56 52 6 16 37 49 
			 Salford 168 76 92 8 28 47 85 
			 Sandwell 213 108 105 10 41 64 98 
			 Sheffield 309 171 138 13 54 90 152 
			 Shropshire 229 118 111 11 26 74 118 
			 Solihull 165 84 81 2 29 53 81 
			 Somerset 241 118 123 3 28 76 134 
			 South Cleveland 324 173 151 12 50 108 154 
			 South East London 605 280 325 30 103 193 279 
			 South Glamorgan 335 173 162 16 59 105 155 
			 South Sefton 130 58 72 2 17 38 73 
			 South Tyneside 133 70 63 8 22 40 63 
			 South West London 751 325 426 42 146 222 341 
			 St. Helens 140 67 73 6 17 36 81 
			 Staffordshire 520 261 259 22 75 172 251 
			 Stockport 171 80 91 8 19 52 92 
			 Suffolk 261 118 143 3 31 78 149 
			 Sunderland 188 98 90 6 27 65 90 
			 Surrey 366 165 201 14 52 127 173 
			 Sutton Coldfield 129 57 72 3 16 43 67 
			 Tameside 163 80 83 8 22 47 86 
			 Trafford 143 63 80 1 17 48 77 
			 Wakefield 96 48 48 5 15 29 47 
			 Walsall 143 79 64 9 23 38 73 
			 Warwickshire 220 107 113 7 28 67 118 
			 West Glamorgan 225 114 111 9 27 69 120 
			 West Sussex 339 177 162 14 44 101 180 
			 Wigan and Leigh 186 102 84 4 25 77 80 
			 Wiltshire 255 126 129 6 40 95 114 
			 Wirral 230 112 118 3 23 74 130 
			 Wolverhampton 140 73 67 4 22 51 63 
			 Total 28,607 14,067 14,540 1,107 4,111 8,865 14,524 
		
	
	
		
			  Ethnicity 
			 Advisory Committee Area White Mixed Black Asian Chinese Other Unknown 
			 Avon 310 1 3 4 0 0 0 
			 Barnsley 108 1 1 1 0 1 0 
			 Batley and Dewsbury 85 0 7 1 1 1 0 
			 Bedfordshire 264 2 23 14 1 2 0 
			 Berkshire 328 4 25 12 1 4 0 
			 Birmingham 330 6 55 31 2 0 0 
			 Bolton 177 1 13 5 0 0 0 
			 Bradford 228 1 40 7 0 2 0 
			 Bristol 285 0 10 12 1 0 0 
			 Buckinghamshire 336 2 18 13 1 0 0 
			 Bury 176 0 7 1 0 0 0 
			 Calderdale 132 2 5 2 0 4 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 314 1 6 3 0 4 0 
			 Carmarthenshire 126 0 3 0 0 0 0 
			 Ceredigion 51 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cheshire 466 2 7 1 1 3 0 
			 Cities of Westminster and London 368 2 13 43 3 4 0 
			 Clwyd 303 0 3 0 0 3 0 
			 Cornwall 194 2 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Coventry 183 1 19 7 0 1 0 
			 Cumbria 266 0 2 2 0 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 385 0 16 7 0 3 0 
			 Devon 339 1 1 0 0 2 0 
			 Doncaster 177 1 2 0 0 0 0 
			 Dorset 315 2 2 4 1 1 0 
			 Dudley 168 0 7 0 0 0 0 
			 Durham 297 0 4 2 0 0 0 
			 East Sussex 385 0 5 4 2 6 0 
			 Essex 572 1 8 9 0 2 0 
			 Gateshead 127 0 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Gloucestershire 250 1 7 4 0 1 0 
			 Gwent 309 1 7 3 0 0 0 
			 Gwynedd 102 1 0 0 0 2 0 
			 Hampshire 689 3 10 3 1 8 0 
			 Hereford and Worcester 487 3 4 5 1 2 0 
			 Hertfordshire 445 0 16 9 1 3 0 
			 Huddersfield 87 0 5 3 0 0 0 
			 Humberside 272 0 6 0 1 0 0 
			 Isle of Wight 67 1 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Keighley 111 0 7 0 0 0 0 
			 Kent 865 5 16 17 2 3 0 
			 Kingston Upon Hull 161 0 2 0 0 1 0 
			 Knowsley 80 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Lancashire 1,073 8 59 2 0 1 0 
			 Leeds District 386 1 17 17 1 1 0 
			 Leicester 249 1 38 13 0 5 0 
			 Leicestershire 212 0 8 1 0 4 0 
			 Lincolnshire 332 1 5 2 0 1 0 
			 Liverpool 277 1 7 6 4 0 0 
			 Manchester 345 4 30 18 3 4 0 
			 Mid Glamorgan 253 3 0 2 0 0 0 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne 219 2 4 2 1 0 0 
			 Norfolk 391 1 4 0 2 4 0 
			 North Cleveland 82 1 2 0 0 1 0 
			 North East London 445 11 80 105 1 9 0 
			 North Sefton 78 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 North Tyneside 151 1 2 1 0 0 0 
			 North West London 645 7 63 85 2 3 0 
			 North Yorkshire 387 1 5 1 0 1 0 
			 Northamptonshire 384 1 16 13 1 0 0 
			 Northumberland 183 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Nottingham 405 4 17 13 1 2 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 232 0 2 2 0 1 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Oldham 155 0 15 3 1 0 0 
			 Oxfordshire 300 0 9 6 0 1 0 
			 Pembroke 62 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Plymouth 148 2 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Pontefract 84 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Powys 85 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Rochdale Middleton and Heywood 158 0 8 0 0 0 0 
			 Rotherham 101 0 7 0 0 0 0 
			 Salford 162 0 3 3 0 0 0 
			 Sandwell 162 0 37 11 0 3 0 
			 Sheffield 280 2 17 7 1 2 0 
			 Shropshire 218 2 6 0 0 3 0 
			 Solihull 152 0 6 5 0 2 0 
			 Somerset 234 1 1 3 0 2 0 
			 South Cleveland 307 1 12 1 1 2 0 
			 South East London 484 1 37 72 3 8 0 
			 South Glamorgan 312 5 10 6 0 2 0 
			 South Sefton 129 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			 South Tyneside 127 2 4 0 0 0 0 
			 South West London 605 16 74 38 6 12 0 
			 St. Helens 138 0 0 1 1 0 0 
			 Staffordshire 488 2 21 8 0 1 0 
			 Stockport 164 0 3 4 0 0 0 
			 Suffolk 252 1 3 2 1 2 0 
			 Sunderland 182 1 2 1 1 1 0 
			 Surrey 342 6 10 6 0 2 0 
			 Sutton Coldfield 118 0 7 4 0 0 0 
			 Tameside 150 0 12 1 0 0 0 
			 Trafford 136 0 4 3 0 0 0 
			 Wakefield 90 0 3 2 0 1 0 
			 Walsall 122 0 15 5 0 1 0 
			 Warwickshire 200 0 16 4 0 0 0 
			 West Glamorgan 218 0 5 0 1 1 0 
			 West Sussex 332 0 7 0 0 0 0 
			 Wigan and Leigh 181 0 3 1 0 1 0 
			 Wiltshire 243 1 5 5 1 0 0 
			 Wirral 229 0 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Wolverhampton 115 1 15 8 1 0 0 
			 Total 26,414 140 1,125 725 54 149 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Magistrates diversity profile by Advisory Committee Areas as at 31 March 2011 
			   Gender Age 
			 Advisory Committee Area Total Male Female Under 40 40-49 50-59 60 and over 
			 Avon 314 152 162 14 49 107 144 
			 Barnsley 111 62 49 7 17 33 54 
			 Batley and Dewsbury 92 50 42 5 22 23 42 
			 Bedfordshire 274 131 143 12 54 77 131 
			 Berkshire 374 162 212 11 78 106 179 
			 Birmingham and Heart of England 882 430 452 35 124 274 449 
			 Black Country 609 308 301 19 101 185 304 
			 Bolton 182 86 96 7 20 44 111 
			 Bradford 273 128 145 18 43 86 126 
			 Bristol 302 144 158 14 42 88 158 
			 Buckinghamshire 338 160 178 9 60 92 177 
			 Bury 174 86 88 5 21 46 102 
			 Calderdale 139 69 70 6 9 51 73 
			 Cambridgeshire 304 144 160 3 35 93 173 
			 Carmarthenshire 126 67 59 1 10 43 72 
			 Ceredigion 45 20 25 1 1 15 28 
			 Cheshire 482 248 234 12 77 159 234 
			 Cities of Westminster and London 436 174 262 33 44 124 235 
			 Cleveland 388 206 182 16 54 125 193 
			 Cornwall 189 93 96 2 26 46 115 
		
	
	
		
			 Cumbria 261 134 127 6 24 68 163 
			 Derbyshire 422 219 203 17 55 110 240 
			 Devon 313 125 188 10 38 78 187 
			 Doncaster 175 88 87 7 13 51 104 
			 Dorset 318 163 155 7 26 89 196 
			 Durham 292 144 148 5 46 96 145 
			 East Sussex 374 166 208 8 43 112 211 
			 Essex 567 294 273 15 67 154 331 
			 Gateshead 117 55 62 6 13 33 65 
			 Gloucestershire 258 129 129 9 46 83 120 
			 Gwent 300 163 137 8 29 79 184 
			 Hampshire 699 341 358 17 93 200 389 
			 Hereford and Worcester 496 244 252 12 54 158 272 
			 Hertfordshire 458 221 237 12 104 140 202 
			 Huddersfield 90 45 45 5 10 31 44 
			 Humberside 286 148 138 7 42 80 157 
			 Isle of Wight 67 33 34 2 9 25 31 
			 Keighley 110 57 53 6 14 36 54 
			 Kent 881 446 435 34 96 271 480 
			 Kingston Upon Hull 157 89 68 11 14 48 84 
			 Lancashire 1,117 548 569 51 124 333 609 
			 Leeds District 415 200 215 26 67 124 198 
			 Leicester 299 152 147 12 51 84 152 
			 Leicestershire 212 91 121 6 27 59 120 
			 Lincolnshire 329 158 171 3 46 83 197 
			 Manchester 374 183 191 20 64 115 175 
			 Merseyside 279 144 135 3 45 83 148 
			 Mid and South Glamorgan 541 284 257 25 84 161 271 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne 205 102 103 8 26 62 109 
			 Norfolk 375 201 174 7 32 96 240 
			 North East London 668 329 339 68 158 178 264 
			 North Tyneside 152 73 79 9 22 42 79 
			 North Wales 406 203 203 7 49 121 229 
			 North West London 829 364 465 45 139 266 379 
			 North Yorkshire 376 197 179 15 48 131 182 
			 Northamptonshire 357 164 193 13 55 112 177 
			 Northumberland 188 91 97 3 31 49 105 
			 Nottingham 418 195 223 19 68 119 212 
			 Nottinghamshire 226 125 101 2 18 67 139 
			 Oldham 164 85 79 11 12 47 94 
			 Oxfordshire 273 123 150 8 25 86 154 
			 Pembroke 59 30 29 1 4 19 35 
			 Plymouth 151 81 70 4 16 42 89 
			 Pontefract 79 45 34 3 16 23 37 
			 Powys 83 40 43 1 6 28 48 
			 Rochdale Middleton and Heywood 152 76 76 4 12 38 98 
			 Rotherham 109 53 56 6 17 34 52 
			 Salford 160 74 86 5 28 45 82 
			 Sheffield 297 165 132 10 51 87 149 
			 Shropshire 229 114 115 5 34 68 122 
			 Somerset 229 111 118 2 23 75 129 
			 South East London 602 274 328 33 100 191 278 
			 South Tyneside 127 68 59 9 20 38 60 
			 South West London 757 321 436 43 150 229 335 
			 Staffordshire 494 246 248 19 68 155 252 
			 Stockport 163 76 87 7 16 44 96 
			 Suffolk 247 112 135 3 24 77 143 
			 Sunderland 198 107 91 5 26 69 98 
			 Surrey 359 165 194 12 46 125 176 
			 Tameside 157 78 79 8 18 43 88 
			 Trafford 136 58 78 1 15 40 80 
			 Wakefield 90 43 47 5 13 22 50 
			 Warwickshire 217 106 111 6 23 58 130 
		
	
	
		
			 West Glamorgan 219 109 110 9 28 69 113 
			 West Sussex 335 173 162 15 36 98 186 
			 Wigan and Leigh 186 101 85 5 24 70 87 
			 Wiltshire 253 124 129 6 41 90 116 
			 Total 26,966 13,186 13,780 1,022 3,769 8,054 14,121 
		
	
	
		
			  Ethnicity 
			 Advisory Committee Area White Mixed Black Asian Chinese Any other Unknown 
			 Avon 305 2 2 5 0 0 0 
			 Barnsley 107 1 1 1 0 1 0 
			 Batley and Dewsbury 82 0 7 1 1 1 0 
			 Bedfordshire 236 1 20 14 1 2 0 
			 Berkshire 328 4 25 11 1 5 0 
			 Birmingham and Heart of England 740 7 83 47 2 3 0 
			 Black Country 511 2 69 22 1 4 0 
			 Bolton 163 1 13 5 0 0 0 
			 Bradford 223 1 40 7 0 2 0 
			 Bristol 277 0 10 14 1 0 0 
			 Buckinghamshire 305 2 17 13 1 0 0 
			 Bury 166 0 7 1 0 0 0 
			 Calderdale 126 2 5 2 0 4 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 291 1 6 2 0 4 0 
			 Carmarthenshire 123 0 3 0 0 0 0 
			 Ceredigion 45 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cheshire 468 2 7 1 1 3 0 
			 Cities of Westminster and London 371 1 12 44 3 5 0 
			 Cleveland 368 2 15 0 0 3 0 
			 Cornwall 187 2 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cumbria 257 0 2 2 0 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 393 1 17 7 0 4 0 
			 Devon 310 1 0 0 0 2 0 
			 Doncaster 172 1 2 0 0 0 0 
			 Dorset 309 2 2 3 1 1 0 
			 Durham 286 0 4 2 0 0 0 
			 East Sussex 358 0 5 3 2 6 0 
			 Essex 546 0 8 11 0 2 0 
			 Gateshead 117 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gloucestershire 245 1 7 4 0 1 0 
			 Gwent 289 1 7 3 0 0 0 
			 Hampshire 673 3 11 3 1 8 0 
			 Hereford and Worcester 482 3 3 5 1 2 0 
			 Hertfordshire 426 0 17 9 1 5 0 
			 Huddersfield 82 0 5 3 0 0 0 
			 Humberside 279 0 5 0 1 1 0 
			 Isle of Wight 65 1 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Keighley 102 0 7 1 0 0 0 
			 Kent 836 6 15 17 2 5 0 
			 Kingston Upon Hull 155 0 2 0 0 0 0 
			 Lancashire 1,048 6 60 2 0 1 0 
			 Leeds District 377 1 18 16 2 1 0 
			 Leicester 243 2 37 13 0 4 0 
			 Leicestershire 199 0 8 1 0 4 0 
			 Lincolnshire 320 1 5 2 0 1 0 
			 Manchester 322 4 24 17 3 4 0 
			 Merseyside 264 1 7 3 4 0 0 
			 Mid and South Glamorgan 516 6 9 9 0 1 0 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne 197 2 3 2 1 0 0 
			 Norfolk 364 1 4 0 2 4 0 
			 North East London 455 12 80 111 1 9 0 
			 North Tyneside 148 1 2 1 0 0 0 
			 North Wales 396 1 3 0 0 6 0 
			 North West London 664 6 68 84 1 6 0 
		
	
	
		
			 North Yorkshire 368 1 5 1 0 1 0 
			 Northamptonshire 334 1 14 8 0 0 0 
			 Northumberland 188 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Nottingham 380 4 17 13 1 3 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 221 0 2 2 0 1 0 
			 Oldham 145 0 15 3 1 0 0 
			 Oxfordshire 261 0 7 5 0 0 0 
			 Pembroke 59 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Plymouth 148 2 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Pontefract 78 0 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Powys 82 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Rochdale Middleton and Heywood 146 0 6 0 0 0 0 
			 Rotherham 103 0 6 0 0 0 0 
			 Salford 154 0 3 3 0 0 0 
			 Sheffield 267 2 18 7 1 2 0 
			 Shropshire 217 2 7 0 0 3 0 
			 Somerset 222 1 1 3 0 2 0 
			 South East London 483 1 36 72 3 7 0 
			 South Tyneside 121 2 4 0 0 0 0 
			 South West London 613 17 73 37 5 12 0 
			 Staffordshire 464 1 19 9 0 1 0 
			 Stockport 156 0 3 4 0 0 0 
			 Suffolk 240 1 3 1 1 1 0 
			 Sunderland 192 0 3 1 1 1 0 
			 Surrey 335 6 10 6 0 2 0 
			 Tameside 144 0 12 1 0 0 0 
			 Trafford 130 0 3 3 0 0 0 
			 Wakefield 83 0 3 2 0 2 0 
			 Warwickshire 197 0 16 4 0 0 0 
			 West Glamorgan 211 0 6 0 1 1 0 
			 West Sussex 329 0 5 1 0 0 0 
			 Wigan and Leigh 182 0 2 1 0 1 0 
			 Wiltshire 241 1 5 5 1 0 0 
			 Total 24,811 137 10,94 718 50 156 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Magistrates diversity profile by Advisory Committee Areas as at 31 March 2012 
			   Gender Age 
			 Advisory Committee Area Total Male Female Under 40 40-49 50-59 60 and over 
			 Avon and Somerset 837 386 451 25 106 248 458 
			 Bedfordshire 248 125 123 11 44 75 118 
			 Berkshire 333 138 195 10 69 99 155 
			 Birmingham and Heart of England 798 384 414 27 106 253 412 
			 Black Country 558 276 282 16 81 183 278 
			 Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 541 252 289 14 75 153 299 
			 Cambridgeshire 267 125 142 2 28 80 157 
			 Central and South London 897 388 509 72 141 288 396 
			 Cheshire 452 231 221 11 70 130 241 
			 Cleveland 346 179 167 12 41 100 193 
			 Cumbria 230 121 109 6 17 56 151 
			 Derbyshire 411 208 203 18 49 108 236 
			 Devon and Cornwall 603 280 323 14 67 154 368 
			 Dorset 286 149 137 5 27 74 180 
			 Durham 272 133 139 2 37 87 146 
			 Dyfed Powys 273 135 138 4 16 89 164 
			 Essex 518 275 243 11 59 141 307 
			 Gloucestershire 220 105 115 6 34 71 109 
			 Greater Manchester 1,612 786 826 54 184 458 916 
			 Gwent 291 157 134 7 29 71 184 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 723 357 366 18 86 218 401 
			 Hertfordshire 446 221 225 10 103 133 200 
			 Humber 410 216 194 12 49 120 229 
			 Kent 828 415 413 25 91 248 464 
			 Lancashire 1,080 530 550 54 121 311 594 
		
	
	
		
			 Leicestershire and Rutland 393 191 202 16 58 111 208 
			 Lincolnshire 305 145 160 2 35 79 189 
			 London West 1,040 446 594 50 185 326 479 
			 Merseyside 769 384 385 10 94 222 443 
			 Mid and South Glamorgan 489 254 235 18 71 152 248 
			 Norfolk 353 195 158 7 30 88 228 
			 North and East London 963 447 516 82 193 277 411 
			 North Wales 397 198 199 8 45 118 226 
			 North Yorkshire 344 180 164 11 44 116 173 
			 Northamptonshire 341 152 189 11 46 114 170 
			 Northumbria 901 443 458 35 121 264 481 
			 Nottinghamshire 583 291 292 16 64 161 342 
			 South Yorkshire 628 335 293 27 78 177 346 
			 Staffordshire 438 209 229 13 60 137 228 
			 Suffolk 225 101 124 1 24 64 136 
			 Surrey 340 154 186 10 43 104 183 
			 Sussex 664 320 344 17 75 189 383 
			 Warwickshire 204 97 107 6 21 54 123 
			 West Glamorgan 210 102 108 5 33 70 102 
			 West Mercia 684 337 347 15 84 189 396 
			 West Yorkshire 1177 580 597 61 174 349 593 
			 Wiltshire 242 119 123 6 38 81 117 
			 Total 25,170 12,252 12,918 873 3,346 7390 13,561 
		
	
	
		
			  Ethnicity 
			 Advisory Committee Area White Mixed Black Asian Chinese Any other Unknown 
			 Avon and Somerset 795 3 14 21 1 2 1 
			 Bedfordshire 215 1 17 12 1 2 0 
			 Berkshire 292 4 20 11 1 5 0 
			 Birmingham and Heart of England 665 7 77 44 2 3 0 
			 Black Country 463 2 69 20 1 3 0 
			 Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 498 2 24 16 1 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 257 0 4 2 0 4 0 
			 Central and South London 714 7 52 100 8 16 0 
			 Cheshire 440 2 6 1 1 2 0 
			 Cleveland 329 2 12 0 0 3 0 
			 Cumbria 226 0 2 2 0 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 382 1 18 7 0 3 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 595 5 0 0 0 3 0 
			 Dorset 279 2 1 2 1 1 0 
			 Durham 267 0 3 2 0 0 0 
			 Dyfed Powys 269 0 4 0 0 0 0 
			 Essex 497 0 9 11 0 1 0 
			 Gloucestershire 209 1 6 3 0 1 0 
			 Greater Manchester 1,486 3 80 34 4 5 0 
			 Gwent 280 1 7 3 0 0 0 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 698 3 11 3 1 7 0 
			 Hertfordshire 414 0 19 8 1 4 0 
			 Humber 402 0 6 0 1 1 0 
			 Kent 782 7 16 16 2 5 0 
			 Lancashire 1,013 8 56 2 0 1 0 
			 Leicestershire and Rutland 330 1 41 13 0 8 0 
			 Lincolnshire 297 1 4 2 0 1 0 
			 London West 813 15 119 76 1 16 0 
			 Merseyside 748 1 8 5 5 2 0 
			 Mid and South Glamorgan 466 6 9 7 0 1 0 
			 Norfolk 344 1 4 0 1 3 0 
			 North and East London 706 13 93 141 1 9 0 
			 North Wales 387 1 3 0 0 6 0 
			 North Yorkshire 336 1 5 1 0 1 0 
			 Northamptonshire 317 2 14 8 0 0 0 
			 Northumbria 877 6 11 5 1 1 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Nottinghamshire 544 4 18 12 1 4 0 
			 South Yorkshire 589 4 25 7 1 2 0 
			 Staffordshire 409 1 18 9 0 1 0 
			 Suffolk 219 1 2 1 1 1 0 
			 Surrey 319 6 7 6 0 2 0 
			 Sussex 644 0 10 3 2 5 0 
			 Warwickshire 188 0 12 4 0 0 0 
			 West Glamorgan 201 0 7 0 1 1 0 
			 West Mercia 658 5 10 5 1 5 0 
			 West Yorkshire 1,046 4 82 32 3 10 0 
			 Wiltshire 231 1 4 5 1 0 0 
			 Total 23,136 135 1,039 662 46 151 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Magistrates diversity profile by Advisory Committee Areas as at 31 March 2013 
			   Gender Age 
			 Advisory Committee Area Total Male Female Under 40 40-49 50-59 60 and Over 
			 Central and South London 873 380 493 74 148 273 378 
			 North and East London 900 411 489 69 174 260 397 
			 London West 967 413 554 38 157 293 479 
			 Birmingham and Heart of England 744 353 391 18 92 239 395 
			 Black Country 508 248 260 15 67 168 258 
			 Derbyshire 377 188 189 15 50 101 211 
			 Leicestershire and Rutland 421 191 230 14 51 123 233 
			 Lincolnshire 270 130 140 2 25 74 169 
			 Northamptonshire 330 141 189 11 43 112 164 
			 Nottinghamshire 539 264 275 16 49 150 324 
			 Staffordshire 394 190 204 10 52 117 215 
			 Warwickshire 195 92 103 5 17 53 120 
			 West Mercia 632 308 324 12 79 157 384 
			 Cleveland 331 166 165 12 33 99 187 
			 Durham 263 130 133 5 32 78 148 
			 Humber 374 199 175 10 41 107 216 
			 Northumbria 838 405 433 28 106 241 463 
			 North Yorkshire 310 163 147 7 36 98 169 
			 South Yorkshire 575 307 268 22 69 149 335 
			 West Yorkshire 1,071 529 542 51 153 294 573 
			 Cheshire 428 215 213 7 59 121 241 
			 Cumbria 212 105 107 5 17 51 139 
			 Greater Manchester 1,476 713 763 44 157 407 868 
			 Lancashire 1,040 503 537 52 115 300 573 
			 Merseyside 697 341 356 8 78 186 425 
			 Bedfordshire 226 112 114 10 36 61 119 
			 Berkshire 312 128 184 7 57 100 148 
			 Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 499 231 268 12 67 135 285 
			 Cambridgeshire 230 106 124 1 26 61 142 
			 Essex 486 254 232 8 50 133 295 
			 Hertfordshire 441 211 230 11 90 134 206 
			 Kent 748 375 373 24 77 217 430 
			 Norfolk 343 188 155 7 27 82 227 
			 Suffolk 210 98 112 0 19 61 130 
			 Surrey 307 135 172 8 33 97 169 
			 Sussex 618 292 326 14 70 169 365 
			 Avon and Somerset 722 336 386 18 90 206 408 
			 Devon and Cornwall 565 262 303 13 59 147 346 
			 Dorset 268 136 132 4 25 63 176 
			 Gloucestershire 203 96 107 3 33 64 103 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 690 344 346 16 82 196 396 
			 Wiltshire 199 97 102 6 30 71 92 
			 Dyfed Powys 268 131 137 4 18 80 166 
			 Gwent 277 150 127 6 35 69 167 
			 Mid and South Glamorgan 458 235 223 17 74 136 231 
			 North Wales 358 177 181 8 40 96 214 
			 West Glamorgan 208 104 104 5 29 75 99 
		
	
	
		
			 Total 23,401 11,283 12,118 752 2,967 6,704 12,978 
		
	
	
		
			  Ethnicity 
			 Advisory Committee Area White Mixed Black Asian Chinese Any other Unknown 
			 Central and South London 692 10 99 51 7 14 0 
			 North and East London 654 11 133 91 1 10 0 
			 London West 753 14 74 111 1 14 0 
			 Birmingham and Heart of England 615 6 41 75 2 5 0 
			 Black Country 422 1 19 62 1 3 0 
			 Derbyshire 348 1 6 19 0 3 0 
			 Leicestershire and Rutland 360 1 12 41 0 7 0 
			 Lincolnshire 264 1 1 3 0 1 0 
			 Northamptonshire 302 4 9 14 0 1 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 502 4 12 16 1 4 0 
			 Staffordshire 366 1 8 18 0 1 0 
			 Warwickshire 179 0 4 12 0 0 0 
			 West Mercia 610 5 5 7 1 4 0 
			 Cleveland 316 2 0 11 0 2 0 
			 Durham 258 0 2 3 0 0 0 
			 Humber 368 0 0 5 0 1 0 
			 Northumbria 817 4 4 11 1 1 0 
			 North Yorkshire 303 1 1 5 0 0 0 
			 South Yorkshire 538 4 7 24 0 2 0 
			 West Yorkshire 946 4 29 79 3 10 0 
			 Cheshire 417 2 1 5 1 2 0 
			 Cumbria 208 0 2 2 0 0 0 
			 Greater Manchester 1,350 4 32 81 4 5 0 
			 Lancashire 974 7 2 55 0 1 1 
			 Merseyside 678 1 5 6 5 2 0 
			 Bedfordshire 196 1 10 16 1 2 0 
			 Berkshire 273 4 9 20 1 5 0 
			 Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 456 2 16 24 1 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 219 0 2 5 0 4 0 
			 Essex 465 0 11 9 0 1 0 
			 Hertfordshire 411 0 7 19 1 3 0 
			 Kent 705 7 14 15 2 5 0 
			 Norfolk 335 1 0 4 1 2 0 
			 Suffolk 204 1 1 2 1 1 0 
			 Surrey 287 5 6 7 0 2 0 
			 Sussex 599 0 3 9 2 5 0 
			 Avon and Somerset 685 3 20 11 1 2 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 557 5 0 0 0 3 0 
			 Dorset 261 2 2 1 1 1 0 
			 Gloucestershire 192 1 3 6 0 1 0 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 665 3 3 11 1 7 0 
			 Wiltshire 190 1 5 2 1 0 0 
			 Dyfed Powys 264 0 0 4 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 266 2 3 6 0 0 0 
			 Mid and South Glamorgan 431 7 8 10 0 2 0 
			 North Wales 349 1 0 3 0 5 0 
			 West Glamorgan 199 0 0 7 1 1 0 
			 Total 21,449 134 631 998 43 145 1

Prisons: Wrexham

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  when the contract for construction of the new prison in Wrexham will be signed;
	(2)  when construction will (a) begin and (b) be completed on the new prison in Wrexham;
	(3)  when his Department plans to make a decision on who will run the new prison in Wrexham;
	(4)  what estimate he has made of spending on construction of the new prison in Wrexham in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15, (c) 2015-16, (d) 2016-17 and (e) 2017-18;
	(5)  what estimate he has made of the total cost to the public purse of constructing the new prison in Wrexham; and what estimate he has made of the amount that will come from (a) his Department's budgets and (b) other Government budgets.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice plans to appoint a prime contractor to build the prison in spring 2014 with work on site beginning in summer 2014. The prison is expected to be fully operational by late 2017.
	The new prison will cost around £250 million to construct and will be Ministry of Justice funded. However, the Ministry of Justice is still in the procurement phase and therefore estimates of spending in each of the financial years are commercially sensitive.
	The Ministry of Justice is considering a full range of options relating to the operation of the new prison.

Young Offender Institutions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork in young offender institutions;
	(2)  how many young people in custody are subject to Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork to minimise the risk of self-harm and suicide.

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service has undertaken a review of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork process and its applicability for young people (aged under 18). The review will be completed by the end of March 2014.
	Assessment, Care in Custody, and Teamwork (ACCT) is a prisoner-focused care planning system for prisoners who are identified as being at risk of self-harm and/or suicide. Young offender institutions who hold young people record and monitor the number of prisoners supported through an ACCT plan, locally. There is currently no ability to centrally report this information.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Advertising

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on advertising in each newspaper in the latest year for which figures are available.

Michael Penning: The total spent on print advertising by the Department for Work & Pensions in 2012-13 was £2,540,520.
	We are unable to provide information by individual title.
	Like all Government Departments and public bodies, we have a duty to help the public understand and manage new legal changes and rights. We are delivering major reforms with levels of spend underlining our commitment to provide essential public information at the appropriate time. We are careful to ensure we deliver value for money with these communications delivering significant benefits for individuals and wider society in understanding vital changes.

Asbestos: Children

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Health and Safety Executive has specialist expertise on the risks of asbestos to children.

Michael Penning: HSE specialists do have expertise in assessing the risks of asbestos to children. They work with the wider scientific community and collaborate with independent researchers.
	HSE recently advised the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment about how the known risks for asbestos exposure in adults are likely to be modified for exposure in children.

Buildings

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on which buildings occupied by his Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies will the lease be due for renewal in the next four years.

Michael Penning: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 NDPB Building Location Tenure Event Date 
			 HSE Tyr Myrrdin Carmarthen Lease Break 25 May 2014 
			 HSE Edison Court Wrexham Lease End 11 August 2014 
			 HSE Lyme Vale Court Stoke Lease Break 8 February 2016 
			 HSE St James House Cheltenham Lease Break 1 June 2016 
			 HSE Stinsford Road Poole Lease End 19 March 2017 
			 HSE 900 Pavillion Drive Northampton Lease End 28 October 2017 
			 HSE Belford House & Douglas House Edinburgh Lease End 28 November 2017 
			 HSE Mercantile Chambers Glasgow Lease Break 28 November 2017 
			 HSE Council Office Oxted Lease Break 31 December 2017 
			 HSE North Quay House Plymouth Lease Break 25 March 2018

Employment and Support Allowance

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to increase the number of decision assurance calls to employment and support allowance applicants; and what assessment he has made of their effect.

Esther McVey: My Department will run a pilot exercise in March to test possible improvements to the success rate of the decision assurance call. The pilot will aim to increase the success rates using text messages, with a text message being issued prior to the decision assurance call to give a stronger message to the claimant that it is important to take this call to prevent a gap or delay in payment. A follow up message will be issued after the second unsuccessful call to advise of the need to claim JSA immediately so that benefit payments can be made where employment and support allowance is to be disallowed. The results of the pilot will be monitored and evaluated to ensure that improvements can be successfully rolled out nationally. In addition guidance improvements have been made to increase the success rate of calls.
	As part of the fourth independent review of the work capability assessment Dr Paul Litchfield made a recommendation about the decision assurance call. We are considering this, along with Dr Litchfield's other recommendations, as part of the Government's response to Dr Litchfield's review, which will be published in the first quarter of 2014.

Employment and Support Allowance

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will allow employment and support allowance decision makers greater access to evidence held in his Department than those managing other benefits.

Michael Penning: Decision makers are not restricted in their evidence-gathering role and can request other evidence which they consider may be relevant.

Employment and Support Allowance

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to publish data on Atos quality and performance for employment and support allowance assessments.

Michael Penning: There are no plans to publish the results of the Department's routine monitoring of the delivery and quality of the services provided to it by Atos Healthcare.

Internet

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2014, Official Report, column 378W, on internet, how many users of the Stat-Xplore website have provided feedback on the site; and if he will publish all such feedback received;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2014, Official Report, column 378W, on internet, whether he plans to provide training to (a) hon. Members, (b) hon. Members staff and (c) the public in the use of the Stat-Xplore website;
	(3)  pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2014, Official Report, columns 376-8W, on internet, if he will undertake not to refer hon. Members to the Stat-Xplore website as a substitute for providing substantive answers to Parliamentary Questions about housing benefit and other data until such time as the usability as that site has been substantially improved.

Michael Penning: A total of 162 e-mails have been received from users of Stat-Xplore. There are no plans to publish individual feedback.
	Training was provided to staff at the House Library prior to the launch of Stat-Xplore but I would be happy for my officials to provide training to both hon. Members, and their staff in the use of Stat-Xplore and will instruct them to undertake this. In addition, plans are in place to train journalists in the use of the tool. As well as the provision of the on-line Help facility within Stat-Xplore, all registered users will be sent, via e-mail, a Stat-Xplore User Guide.
	Stat-Xplore was designed to meet this Government's transparency commitments, and to allow much more granular interrogation of the Department's datasets than was previously possible, and is part of Department's efficiency agenda, being designed to control the costs of parliamentary questions.
	However, key national-level statistics such as those for housing benefit are also available through routine statistical releases. More detailed tables, generally at regional or local authority level, are also available, through ready made tables within Stat-Xplore and also within a set of spreadsheet tables available on our website here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/statistics
	Please note that for very detailed statistical breakdowns, Stat-Xplore has been specifically developed as it allows users much more flexibility than is possible within spreadsheet-based tables.

Pension Credit

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will change the eligibility criteria for pensions credit for people who have come to the UK from abroad and reached the qualifying age but did not make national insurance contributions during their working life.

Steve Webb: Pension credit is an income related benefit for the poorest pensioners living in Great Britain and is not based on contributions paid. There are no plans to change this. However, in order to qualify for pension credit a person must also have a right to reside in Great Britain, be habitually resident and physically present, and not be subject to provisions that mean they have no recourse to public funds whilst in Great Britain.

Photographs

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on official photographs of its Ministers since May 2010.

Michael Penning: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore), on 19 July 2011, Official Report, column 839W.
	Information is not recorded in a format to provide further costs on official photographs. However, wherever possible the Department uses in-house facilities for photography.

Secondment

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what procedures his Department uses to ensure equal opportunities in relation to staff secondments to the Department.

Michael Penning: The Department complies with the requirement of appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as laid down by the Civil Service Commission in its Recruitment Principles.

Social Security Benefits

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applicants in the last year for which figures are available were assigned to the Support Group under Regulations 29 and 35 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007.

Michael Penning: The information as requested is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However the latest data available on employment and support allowance new claims, placed in the Support Group or Work Related Activity Group at functional assessment, initially or after appeal, split into reasons for assignment by month of claim start, Great Britain, can be found in table 5 and 6 respectively at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-january-2014

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of the efficiency of Atos in undertaking face-to-face assessments on the Isle of Wight.

Michael Penning: Officials meet regularly with Atos Healthcare to discuss performance in line with their contractual commitments, including timeliness and quality. Recently, Atos Healthcare has undertaken a process to reaccredit their entire health care professional work force who conduct work capability assessments, with the aim of improving quality and effectiveness.

Staff

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of staff recruited to his Department since 5 May 2010 identified their ethnicity as (a) white British and (b) from a minority ethnic background.

Michael Penning: The following table shows the percentage of employees recruited to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) from 5 May 2010 to 31 December 2013 who have identified their ethnicity as (a) white British and (b) from a minority ethnic background.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 White British 18.3 
			 Ethnic Minority 3.5

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2014, Official Report, column 411W, on absent voting, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the role political parties have played in increasing the proportion of postal votes from four per cent to 15 per cent.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has made no formal assessment of this.

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2014, Official Report, column 411W, on absent voting, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the reasons for the high levels of satisfaction with postal voting revealed by its 2010 post-election research; and whether that research was taken into account when it arrived at its decision to propose limiting the handling of postal ballot application forms.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its 2010 post-election public opinion survey found that the most popular reason postal voters gave for choosing to vote by post related to convenience: 58% said it was more convenient for them than voting in person, and 12% that they would have otherwise have had difficulty getting to their polling station on polling day.
	The same survey also found that 95% of postal voters found voting by post to be either very or fairly convenient and 97% said they found it easy to complete and return their postal vote.
	The Electoral Commission's recommendation to restrict the involvement of campaigners in the absent vote administration process was based on a range of evidence, including qualitative public opinion research into perceptions of electoral fraud.
	This research with the public found that restricting the handling of completed postal vote application forms and postal ballot packs by political parties, candidates, canvassers and campaigners was felt to be a worthwhile policy change that would bring the system into line with their expectations. It also found that people felt this move would increase the overall security of elections without having a negative impact on voter participation (either for themselves or vulnerable electors).
	Findings from this research are available on the Commission's website at:
	www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/electoral-fraud/electoral-fraud-vulnerabilities-review

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the (a) role of postal ballots in increasing voter participation and engagement and (b) the potential effects of its restrictions on the handling of postal ballots on voter participation and engagement.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it conducts regular public opinion research following elections and has asked some specific questions on the impact of postal voting on voter participation. Following the English and Welsh local elections in 2008 the Commission's post-election research found that nearly six in 10 (58%) of those that voted by post (or 7% of all people) said that the availability of postal voting encouraged them to vote. Four in 10 (42%) said it had little effect.
	Postal voters, in the survey, who said that the availability of postal voting encouraged them to vote, were also asked if they would have still voted if postal voting was not available. Just over half (56%) said they would not otherwise have voted.
	The Electoral Commission’s recommendation to restrict the involvement of campaigners in the absent vote administration process was based on a range of evidence, including public opinion research. The Commission believes that campaigners play a vital role in encouraging participation in elections, including helping to publicise and explain different voting methods to electors who might not be able to vote in person at a polling station. They can also play an important role in encouraging people to register to vote. It does not believe it is appropriate, however, for campaigners to be directly involved in the voting process, including completing absent vote applications and handling postal ballot packs.
	The Commission carried out qualitative research with the public into perceptions of electoral fraud. This research found that the proposal to restrict the involvement of campaigners in the completion or return of postal vote application forms or postal ballot packs was considered to be a positive change. This was because participants felt it would increase the overall security of elections without having a negative impact on voter participation.

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what number and proportion of (a) allegations of postal ballot fraud and (b) successful prosecutions for postal ballot fraud were for (i) distributing and collecting postal ballot application forms and (ii) collecting postal ballot forms for the purpose of voting in the latest period for which figures are available.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission has been working with the UK's Associations of Chief Police Officers since 2007 to collect and publish data on cases of alleged electoral fraud under the Representation of the People Act 1983. These data are available on the Commission's website at:
	www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/electoral-fraud/electoral-fraud-responsibilities
	The data does not show the proportion of cases of alleged electoral fraud which relate to distributing or collecting completed postal vote application forms or collecting completed postal ballot packs. It is not currently an offence for anyone to distribute or collect postal vote application forms or to collect postal ballot packs from electors; therefore no prosecutions have been recorded.

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Electoral Commission will delay changes to restrictions on the handling of postal ballots until after the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee has completed its inquiry into improving voter turnout.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission will consult on proposed changes to the Code of Conduct for Campaigners after May 2014, with a view to implementing any agreed changes by November 2014. On the basis of our current understanding of the timetable for the PCRC's inquiry, we therefore expect that the Committee's views will influence that consultation before it closes. The Commission also looks forward to engaging with this important inquiry as invited.
	If, following our consultations with interested parties, it is possible to agree changes to the Code of Conduct for Campaigners, the Commission will encourage campaigners to commit to following a revised code for elections after 2014, including the May 2015 UK parliamentary general election.

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what steps the Electoral Commission has taken to improve security of voting by post; how much those steps have cost to implement; and how effective they have been in reducing postal ballot fraud.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that since 2003 it has made a number of recommendations to improve the security of postal voting in Great Britain. In 2003 the Commission first recommended the introduction of individual electoral registration in Great Britain in order to help secure the entry point to the electoral process.
	Individual electoral registration (IER) will be implemented in Great Britain from June 2014. The UK Government has indicated that it will fully fund the transition to individual electoral registration. In 2012 the Government estimated the initial costs of introducing IER to be £85 million in 2014-15, plus subsequent additional costs of £13 million per year.
	In 2005 the Commission recommended the introduction of a system of verifiable personal identifiers for postal voting in Great Britain. Since 2006 returning officers have been required to verify the date of birth and signature on a minimum 20% sample of returned postal voting statements against the details provided at the time of application. The Commission continued to recommend that returning officers should verify the personal identifiers on all returned postal voting statements, and legislation passed in 2013 will make this a requirement for elections from May 2014 onwards. The UK Government provided funding to meet the costs of the introduction of this change in 2007.
	The Commission published an evaluation of the introduction of absent vote identifiers in England and Wales in July 2007 but this did not include any analysis of the costs of the policy. It did, however, note that the 2007 elections, conducted under the new rules requiring verifiable personal identifiers, resulted in far fewer allegations of postal voting fraud when compared to the previous period, 2004 to 2006. The evaluation can be found on the Commission's website here:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/electoral_commission_pdf_file/0008/13202/AVI-Final-For-Web_26954-19967__E__N__S__W__.pdf

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Electoral Commission will publish all correspondence it holds on postal ballot fraud.

Gary Streeter: The Commission informs me that it is unable to fulfil this request on the grounds of the significant costs of searching for and extracting the comprehensive volume of relevant correspondence and published materials required. Much of this correspondence also includes confidential or personal data that would have to be withheld.
	The Commission's final report, Electoral Fraud in the UK—final report and recommendations, includes respondents' views on postal vote fraud. This report is available on the Commission's website here:
	www.electoralcommission.org.uk/_data/assets/pdf_file/0008/164609/Electoral-fraud-review-final-report.pdf

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what research the Electoral Commission has conducted into the effect of an all-postal ballot election on turnout and voter engagement; and what assessment it has made of the results of that research.

Gary Streeter: The Commission informs me that it evaluated a number of all-postal voting pilot schemes conducted by English local authorities at local elections between 2002 and 2004, and in four European electoral regions at the June 2004 European parliamentary elections.
	The Commission's evaluations noted that all-postal pilots had demonstrated some success in improving voter turnout. For example, at the 2004 European parliamentary elections, turnout in the four UK pilot regions was 42.42%, just over five percentage points higher than the 37.11% in non-pilot regions.
	The Commission's evaluations also noted that people valued the convenience and ease of use of postal voting.
	The Commission also highlighted the administrative challenges associated with all-postal voting; concerns expressed at the time about the need for improved security in the electoral registration and postal voting processes; and the fact that people valued having a choice about which voting method to use.
	The Commission recommended in 2004 that, while postal voting should remain part of the UK voting system, all-postal voting should not be pursued for use at UK statutory elections.

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, on what date the Electoral Commission decided to consider restrictions to the handling of postal ballot forms by political parties.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission's research and submissions from interested groups and individuals raised concerns about the handling of post vote application forms and postal ballot packs by campaigners. In response, these concerns were reflected in a Commission evidence and issues paper issued in May 2013. The Commission sought views on proposals to restrict the handling of postal vote application forms and post ballot packs by campaigners during further public consultation between May and August 2013.
	The Electoral Commission board approved the final recommendations for the review of electoral fraud vulnerabilities at its meeting on 18 September 2013. Minutes of all Electoral Commission board meetings are published on the Commission's website at:
	www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/who-we-are/the-commissioners/commissioner-meetings
	The Electoral Commission's proposed changes to its Code of Conduct for Campaigners will be the subject of further discussions with hon. Members, as well as political parties, campaigners, Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers in advance of any proposals being introduced. Members of Parliament will be invited and encouraged to respond to consultation on proposed changes to the Code after the May 2014 elections.
	If it is possible to successfully agree changes to the Code of Conduct for Campaigners, the Commission will encourage campaigners to commit to following a revised Code of Conduct for Campaigners for elections after 2014, including the May 2015 UK parliamentary general election.

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the consultations with hon. Members concerning restrictions on the handling of postal ballots will start before or after those restrictions have been introduced.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission intends to discuss its proposed changes to its Code of Conduct for Campaigners with hon. Members, as well as political parties, campaigners, returning officers and electoral registration officers in advance of any proposals being introduced. Members of Parliament will be invited and encouraged to respond to consultation on proposed changes to the code after the May 2014 elections.
	If it is possible to successfully agree changes to the Code of Conduct for Campaigners, the Commission will encourage campaigners to commit to following a revised Code of Conduct for Campaigners for elections after 2014, including the May 2015 UK parliamentary general election. It will make public details of which parties and campaigners have agreed to follow the code.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the introduction of individual electoral registration on voter registration in each (a) 10-year cohort from 18 onwards, (b) socio-economic grouping and (c) ethnic grouping.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its analysis of the results of the nationwide test of the confirmation process, to be used during transition to individual electoral registration, showed that young people are less likely to be matched with the Department for Work and Pensions database. However, it was not possible to conduct a detailed analysis by 10-year age band as an elector's age is not held on the registers.
	There was no evidence that the matching process is less successful for different socio-economic groups or for different ethnic groups.
	This dry run of confirmation also means electoral registration officers (EROs) will know where in their area will have lower match rates and where they therefore need to target their efforts in encouraging people to register individually under the new system.
	Funding provided by Cabinet Office to EROs as part of the implementation of IER also varies depending on the likely match rates that different areas can expect.
	The Electoral Commission's planning for the introduction of IER has taken account of the Cabinet Office funded research study: ‘Under-registered Groups and Individual Electoral Registration (June 2012)’ available here:
	www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/62636/URG_Research_Report_25_07_12.pdf

Electoral Register: Clwyd

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent discussions the Electoral Commission has had with the Electoral Registration Officer for Denbighshire on what lessons can be drawn from his success in increasing registration in the Vale of Clwyd.

Gary Streeter: The Commission informs me that it has not had any recent discussions with the Electoral Registration Officer in Denbighshire specifically about increases in registration in the Vale of Clwyd but has received information from the ERO's team about their plans for the transition to individual electoral registration.
	This has included the approach taken in Denbighshire to maximising local data matching which has been shared with other EROs in Wales by the Cabinet Office Regional Delivery Manager, and within the Commission so that good practice examples can be shared as part of their targeted work with individual EROs and, where applicable, more widely through their weekly bulletin to electoral administrators.
	The Commission sets and monitors performance standards for EROs, which covers the completeness and accuracy of electoral registers. For the last five years, the ERO for Denbighshire has met or exceeded all the relevant performance standards for EROs.

Electoral Register: Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what steps the Electoral Commission is taking to correct misconceptions held by the public about levels of electoral registration fraud.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it collects and analyses data from police forces about cases of alleged electoral fraud in the UK each year and ensures that these details are publically available on its website here:
	www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/electoral-fraud/electoral-fraud-responsibilities
	This information, which has consistently shown that allegations or actual incidents of fraud are not widespread, is also proactively shared with the media to encourage accurate reporting. The Commission also monitors the media, and issues statements to rebut incorrect or misleading coverage.
	The Commission expects to publish its next report on cases of alleged electoral fraud in 2013 within the next two months.

Electoral Register: Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the accuracy and fairness of media coverage of electoral registration fraud.

Gary Streeter: The Commission informs me that it has made no formal assessment of the accuracy and fairness of media coverage of electoral registration fraud.
	The Commission does believe that the media can play an important role in drawing attention to potential incidences of electoral fraud. It has, however, noted in its recent electoral fraud vulnerabilities review that
	“poorly-founded media reporting can present a distorted image and, through the sensationalisation of cases, may simply heighten public concern.”
	The Commission informs me that its qualitative research undertaken as part of its electoral fraud vulnerabilities review found that the media and second hand information passed on by word of mouth (often based on media stories) were key sources of information for people about electoral fraud. People who thought fraud was a 'very big' or 'fairly big' problem were more likely to have seen stories in the media than those that didn't think it was a problem (49% compared with 32%).

Electoral Register: Northern Ireland

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2014, Official Report, columns 391-2W, on electoral register, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the effectiveness of door-to-door canvassing in improving registration rates in Northern Ireland.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland has advised the Commission that he believed the door-to-door canvassing exercise was effective in registering people to vote and was complimented by data matching.
	Altogether, the Chief Electoral Officer reported that 1,241,079 entries were included on the new register published on 2 December 2013. This represents approximately 88.3% of the eligible electorate.
	The Electoral Commission supported the door-to-door canvass by conducting a public awareness campaign during the canvass period.
	The Commission will be producing a report on the canvass in Northern Ireland in March.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Research

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on the creation of new research institutions; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 24 February 2014
	The Government supports a dynamic research environment in the UK, including the creation, where appropriate, of new research institutions. Funding provided through the £300 million UK Research Partnership Investment Fund has supported the establishment of new research institutes, including the ‘National Structural Integrity Research Centre’ at Granta Park and the ‘Energy Safety Research Institute’ at Swansea University, as well other major strategic research partnerships between universities and business and charities. The establishment of a new Postgraduate Institute is part of BIS' ambition for strengthening the role of the National Physical Laboratory through its links with academic partners. In addition, BIS has provided strategic support towards the establishment of new research centres and institutes, and campus developments, where these have been prioritised by the Research Councils and address critical areas of new challenges or build on existing areas of strength for the UK, such as the ‘Higgs Institute for Innovation’ at Edinburgh University.
	Following the announcement last year of a long-term science capital budget to 2020-21, the Government will shortly publish a science capital consultation. This will inform the content of a Science Capital Roadmap, which is central to the Science and Innovation Strategy to be launched at autumn statement 2014.

Students: Finance

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding is allocated to (a) the Student Opportunity Fund and (b) the Access to Learning Fund in 2014-15.

David Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has set out our plans in the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Grant Letter, published on 10 February.
	The Student Opportunity Fund is part of the overall Teaching Grant allocated to higher education institutions by HEFCE. It is HEFCE's responsibility to take decisions on precisely how its budgets are allocated.
	The Access to Learning Fund is transferring to HEFCE in 2014-15, ensuring money is still available to students facing hardship. HEFCE will provide more details in due course.

TRANSPORT

Cycling: Finance

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 525W, on cycling, if he will publish a breakdown of the source of funding for cycling by (a) central government, (b) local authority and (c) other sources in each of the last eight years;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 525W, on cycling, how much was spent on cycling by (a) scheme and (b) source of funding by (i) central government, (ii) local authority and (iii) other sources in each of the last eight years.

Robert Goodwill: holding answer 24 February 2014
	The breakdown of funding by scheme for this administration, which all came from central Government sources is as follows:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Scheme 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Total 
			 Linking Communities — — 8.0 7.5 — 15.5 
			 Bike and Rail — — 7.0 7.5 — 14.5 
			 Junctions (London-TfL) — — 15.0 — — 15.0 
			 Junctions (England not London) — — 15.0 5.0 — 20.0 
			 Cycle Ambitions (City) — — — 66.0 11.5 77.5 
			 Cycle Ambitions (National Park) —- — — 3.1 13.7 16.8 
			 Links to Schools — 12.0 — — — 12.0 
			 Bikeability — 11.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 44.0 
			 Cycling England 63.0 — — — — 63.0 
			 Total 63.0 23.0 56.0 100.1 36.2 278.3 
		
	
	The previous administration provided Cycling England with £140 million from 2008 to 2011.
	In addition, 94 out of 96 Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) projects include cycling as an element in their delivery programmes; these 94 projects receive a total of £535 million of funding. The LSTF has been boosted by a further £178.5 million of funding for 2015-16.
	Local authorities in England (outside of London) are also provided with Integrated Transport Block funding for small transport improvement schemes. This includes: road safety schemes, bus priority schemes, and walking and cycling schemes. This funding is not ring-fenced and local authorities are free to spend it as they see fit, according to their own priorities. In line with the policy of localism, we do not require local authorities to detail how this money is distributed across modes.
	
		
			  Integrated transport block (£ million) 
			 2014-15 450 
			 2013-14 320 
			 2012-13 320 
			 2011-12 350 
			 2010-11 451 
			 2009-10 589 
			 2008-09 576 
			 2007-08 571 
			 2006-07 547 
		
	
	Similarly we provide funding to Transport for London (TfL) via the Greater London Authority Transport Grant. This supports TfL's infrastructure investment programme, including the delivery of the Mayor's Vision for Cycling in London. However, we do not record the detail of their specific expenditure on cycling.
	Throughout this administration, some central Government funded schemes have been supported by local match funding, but we do not collect the detail of the precise sources for this match funding. For those schemes that have received match funding, the total match funding over the lifetime of these projects is:
	
		
			 Scheme Match Funding (£ million) 
			 Linking Communities and Bike Rail 22.2 
			 Junctions (England not London) 20.0 
			 Cycle Ambitions (City) 45.4 
			 Cycle Ambitions (National Park) 9.0 
			 Local Sustainable Transport Fund 526.0

Driving: Licences

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the feasibility of issuing non-gender specific driving licences to people who do not identify as a particular gender.

Stephen Hammond: No assessment has been made as a person's gender is not shown on driving licences.

Driving: Licensing

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average time for processing a driving licence application by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency was in each of the years from 2010.

Stephen Hammond: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Average processing time (days) 
			 2010-11 4 
			 2011-12 5 
			 2012-13 5 
			 2013-14 (up to 31 January 2014) 5 
		
	
	The average time refers to the time taken from the application being received at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to the customer receiving the driving licence. Three days are included in the processing time shown to allow for Royal Mail to deliver the driving licence to the customer.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average time was for issuing vehicle registration marks by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in each year from 2010.

Stephen Hammond: Information about the average time to issue a vehicle registration mark on first registration is unavailable. Registration marks are issued in advance to dealers who use the digital first registration system. Customers are allocated a registration mark when the vehicle is registered.
	Customers who purchase a vehicle from a dealer outside the scheme, or register it independently, receive the registration mark when they receive the vehicle registration certificate.
	The following table shows the amount of personalised registration applications processed within the published target:
	
		
			  Percentage processed within seven days 
			 2010-11 99.4 
			 2011-12 99.9 
			 2012-13 98.3 
			 2013-14 (up to 31 January 2014) 48.8 
		
	
	The lower performance in 2013-14 is due to changes in the way applications are processed and increased transaction volumes. The average time to process these between April and September 2013 was 9.8 days. This has reduced to an average of seven days between September 2013 and January 2014.
	In 2013, the DVLA closed its 39 local offices and performance deteriorated between April and September. This is reflected in the performance for 2013-14 shown in the table. Steps have been taken to improve performance and turnaround times are now being reduced.

Parking: Hospitals

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of applications made to the appeals service for parking on private land have related to parking charge notices in hospital car parks; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the issues raised in such applications.

Robert Goodwill: Information on numbers of parking charge notices issued in hospital car parks is not held centrally. The independent appeals service Parking on Private Land Appeals (PoPLA) issues an annual report which contains information on overall numbers of parking charge notices issued and which is available at:
	https://www.popla.org.uk/AnnualReport.htm
	The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), has not had any discussions with the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), on issues raised in appeals to PoPLA related to parking in hospital car parks.

Railways: Franchises

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will require new replacement 313 rolling stock for the current Great Northern route as a condition of the new Greater Thameslink franchise;
	(2)  what representations he has received on updating 313 rolling stock on the current Great Northern route including the Hertford Loop; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: The Department held a consultation exercise on the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise in 2012 and published its response to the consultation on 26 September 2013 (Stakeholder Briefing Document and Consultation response). Updating the Class 313 rolling stock on the Great Northern route including the Hertford Loop does not appear in the document as an issue that was raised during the consultation process.
	The Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the TSGN franchise, published on 26 September 2013, does not mandate the introduction of new rolling stock to replace the Class 313 trains on the Great Northern Route. However, Section 5.4.3 of the ITT makes clear that additional credit would be available to bidders in the evaluation process for bids that
	“improve the quality of rolling stock used by the Franchisee... in ways that address identified passenger priorities for improvement”.

Railways: Franchises

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from First Capital Connect on compensation from Network Rail in the event of delay as a result of Network Rail infrastructure failings (a) over the Great Northern route and (b) the Hertford Loop; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: First Capital Connect provides its management accounts to the department on a four-weekly basis, which includes commercial and performance information, although the information provided is not disaggregated to the level requested.

Railways: South West

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funds for rail resilience work in the South West will come from (a) his Department’s existing budget and (b) other sources.

Stephen Hammond: On 11 February, the Prime Minister confirmed a package of £31 million of funding for resilience works on the Great Western route. £26 million will be paid from Department for Transport funds and £5 million will come from Network Rail's budget.

Railways: South West

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the timetable is for his Department's review of all rail infrastructure west of Exeter.

Stephen Hammond: The Department is working with Network Rail and others in the rail industry to assess options to ensure that rail services to the west of England are sustained. A timetable of work will be published in due course.

Recruitment

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many new posts have been created in his Department since May 2010; and what the cost of recruitment to those posts was.

Stephen Hammond: The Department's systems do not hold data at a level that allow us to identify which of the posts we have recruited into were new. Additionally the department does not capture the overall cost of recruitment, only advertising costs (where this applies). Therefore this information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Re-employment

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2014, Official Report, column 2MC, on re-employment, what the job title and salary is of each of the 10 posts filled by individuals re-hired by his Department.

Stephen Hammond: On grounds of confidentiality in line with the Data Protection Act we are unable to provide the information requested.

Roads: Litter

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Highways Agency takes to minimise litter on the highways.

Robert Goodwill: The Highways Agency has launched its first litter strategy, setting out how, with the support of road users, it will reduce litter on England's motorway and trunk road network.
	The Agency's aim is to reduce the need to collect litter in the first place, while ensuring it delivers an effective and safe litter picking service.
	The new strategy sets out four areas the Agency will work on to reduce the amount of litter on its roads:
	encouraging road users and the wider public to not drop litter in the first place;
	improving the way it collects litter safely and causing as little disruption as possible;
	welcoming and responding to customer feedback about litter; and
	working more closely with key partners and stakeholders, including local authorities, motorway service areas, Keep Britain Tidy and the freight and haulage industry.
	The document includes case studies of some of the work already done in these areas, such as campaigns using variable message signs, closer working with local authorities and working with traffic commissioners to reduce litter from commercial vehicles.

Staff

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of staff recruited to his Department since 5 May 2010 identified their ethnicity as (a) white British and (b) from a minority ethnic background.

Stephen Hammond: The following information is for the Department for Transport and its agencies.
	The figure shown at (a) is for individuals who have declared themselves to be white. We do not offer a specific white British category.
	(a) 26.9%
	The figure shown at (b) are for individuals who have declared themselves to be of minority ethnic background.
	(b) 2.6%
	The figure shown at (c) are for individuals who chose not to disclose this information.
	(c) 70.5%.

Tachographs

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average time was for registering and issuing tachograph cards by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in each year from 2010.

Stephen Hammond: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Average processing time (days) 
			 2010-11 5 
			 2011-12 5 
			 2012-13 5 
			 2013-14 (up to 31 January 2014) 5 
		
	
	The average time refers to the time taken from the application being received at the DVLA to the customer receiving the tachograph card. Three days are included in the processing time shown to allow for Royal Mail to deliver the tachograph card to the customer.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Females: Public Appointments

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what targets she has set for the representation of women on Government departmental boards.

Francis Maude: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of Cabinet Office.
	Appointments to Government departmental boards are guided by the principles set out in the joint HM Treasury and Cabinet Office document ‘Corporate governance in central Government Departments: Code of good practice’ which was published in July 2011, and requires Departments to pay due attention to diversity.

Staff

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what proportion of staff recruited to the Government Equalities Office since 5 May 2010 identified their ethnicity as (a) white British and (b) from a minority ethnic background.

Helen Grant: The information is not held. GEO employees joined the DCMS payroll on 1 June 2013. They were encouraged to declare their status from that date. Under the machinery of government change project, the project board agreed that no diversity and ethnicity data will be transferred from Home Office to DCMS.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Floods

Anne McIntosh: To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, what work the Church Commissioners are undertaking to support flooded communities and farmers.

Tony Baldry: Following my comments to the House on 13 February 2014, Official Report, column 1010, the Church Urban Fund have launched a ‘Flood Appeal Fund’. This follows highly successful funds set up in 2000 and the year 2007 where the Church Urban Fund and the Church of England co-ordinated the collection of money to help support flood victims and businesses.
	By working alongside the Church of England’s infrastructure the Church Urban Fund are already present in a large number of communities and aim to strengthen existing resource and capacity, to be more effective and sustainable for the long term.
	The money raised in this fund will be available to victims of the floods across the country in both urban and rural areas. It is hoped the Church Urban Fund will be able to support those in most need as it did when the last major floods hit the country in 2000 and 2007. The Church Commissioners are also aware that the Dioceses in the south-west of England are supporting locally focused funds which have been set up to provide assistance to the flood affected families and businesses in the south-west.